Calbot  milson  l:i)ambers. 


BX 

9543 

.C42 

C63 

0 

i 

1^1 

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1 

\ 


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BX  9543  .C42  C63 
Coe,  Edward  B.  1842-1914. 
A  discourse  commemorative  oJ 
the  Reverend  Talbot  Wilson 


A 


Cl^t  Bel),  Caltiot  ratlison  Cl^amberis^ 


y 


BtSCOUrSe   ::::::: 

Commemoratibe  of 
t\)t  Beberenti  Calbot 
imilson  Cljambers. 
^,C,B.,  aE.B.»  b|>  tfje  9aebmnti 
Cbtoarb  iS.  Coe,  B.B.,  Hit.B,  , . 


512cto  gorfe:    ;anno  2Domint  eigl)tecn 
l)untired  anD  ntnetj>  su' 


nt  follotoing  Diflicourse  toad  preparcD  at  t^t  rr,- 

nue0t  of  ttie  Cou0i0torp  of  t^c  Collegiate  Ctjurct), 

anD  iDa0  DelibereD  in  tl)t  c\)mc^ts  at  jfiftb 

auenue   anD   ifort^^eigtjtlj   §>treet    anD 

S>econD  aDenue  anD  ^etjentb  Street, 

on  &unDa^.  ^arc!)  29tt),  1896. 

3It  10  notD  printfD  bp  Direr* 

tion  of  t!je  Con0i0tort! 


SDtscourse 

(."^/T  is  with  a  feeling  almost  of  filial  respect  and  affec- 
'^1  tion  that  I  undertake  this  morning",  at  the  request 
'^^  of  Consistory,  to  speak  of  the  life  and  character 
of  the  late  Dr.  Chambers.  For  the  past  sixteen  years  I 
have  been  most  intimately  and  happily  associated  with 
him  in  the  ministry  of  this  church.  I  shall  never  forget 
with  what  frank  cordiality  he  received  me  when  I  came  to 
it,  under  circumstances  which  might  not  have  disposed 
him  to  show  me  any  unusual  kindness.  But  he  admitted 
me  at  once  to  his  confidence,  and  was  always  ready  to 
give  me  such  counsel  and  help  as  I  needed.  During  all  of 
this  period  no  shadow  of  misunderstanding  or  of  distrust 
has  ever  fallen  on  our  friendship.  My  respect  for  his 
ability,  his  attainments  and  his  character  has  steadily 
deepened,  and  I  long  since  became  conscious  of  a  strong 
and  tender  affection  for  him,  which  sprang  at  first  from 
his  unvarying  kindness  and  was  confirmed  by  the  frequent 
opportunities  which  I  enjoyed  of  observing  his  simplicity, 
earnestness  and  elevation  of  spirit.  In  his  modesty  and 
humility  he  probably  never  suspected  how  much  he  was 
beloved  by  those  who  knew  him  well.  And  he  was  re- 
served in  the  expression  of  his  own  affectionate  feeling. 
But  there  are  many  others  beside  myself  who  loved  as 
well  as  honored  him,  and  whose  sense  of  obligation   for 


SDifltcourfife 

his  influence  upon  them  deepens  their  sense  of  loss  in  his 
recent  and  sudden  removal  to  a  higher  sphere  of  life  and 
service. 

But  it  is  not  a  personal  tribute  that  I  am  now  asked  to 
pay  to  his  memory.  This  was  done  at  the  funeral  service 
which  was  held  in  this  place  a  few  weeks  since.  But  he 
had  been,  at  the  time  of  his  death,  for  more  than  forty-six 
years  one  of  the  ministers  of  the  Collegiate  Church — a 
term  of  service  surpassed  in  length  by  that  of  but  three 
of  his  predecessors  in  the  same  office.  For  the  greater 
part  of  this  time  he  had  been  closely  identified  with  the 
history  of  the  denomination  with  which  this  church  is  con- 
nected, as  well  as  with  various  movements  affecting  the 
church  at  large.  He  was  one  of  the  oldest,  if  not  actually 
the  oldest,  settled  pastor  in  this  city.  He  was  widely 
known  as  a  scholar  and  writer.  He  had  risen,  by  the 
force  of  his  abilities,  his  character  and  his  single-hearted 
devotion  to  the  work  of  the  Master,  to  a  prominent  posi- 
tion, not  only  in  this  community,  but  among  the  leaders 
of  religious  thought  in  this  country.  And  the  tidings  of 
his  death  were  received  with  genuine  sorrow  in  other  and 
far  distant  lands  as  well  as  in  remote  parts  of  our  own. 

It  is  therefore  most  fitting  that  there  should  be  some 
public  review  of  his  life,  and  some  permanent  record  of 
the  services  which  he  rendered  not  only  to  this  church, 
but  to  the  Christian  activities  of  his  time.  And  yet  not 
merely  the  necessary  limits  of  such  a  discourse  as  this,  but 
also  his  own  abhorrence  of  eulogy,  and  his  well-known 
moderation  and  precision  of  statement,  forbid  anything 
more  than  a  rapid  enumeration  of  the  principal  events  in 
his  life,  and  a  brief  mention  of  the  most  salient  traits  in 
his  character. 

He  was    descended  from  one  of  three   brothers  who 


2r>i0four0e 

came  to  this  country  from  the  county  of  Antrim  in  Ireland 
about    1720,   and    settled    in    Pennsylvania.      His    father, 
William  C.   Chambers,  was  educated   in   Dickinson  Col- 
lege, at  Carlisle,   Pa.,   and  afterward  established  himself 
there  as  a  physician.     After  several  years  he  relinquished 
the  practice  of  his  profession  and  removed  to   Philadel- 
phia, where  he  died  in  1857.      He  was  for  many  years  an 
elder  in  the    First   Presbyterian  Church  of  Carlisle,  and 
was  a  man  of  genial  and  affectionate  temper  and  of  high 
Christian  character.      His  wife,  Mary  Ege,  was  the  daugh- 
ter  of  a  prosperous   iron  manufacturer,  whose  ancestors 
had  come  from  Germany  in  1738,  and  who  was  one  of  the 
wealthiest  residents  of  Carlisle.     Dr.   Chambers  was  the 
third  of  their  nine  children.      He  was  born  at  Carlisle  on 
the  25th  of  February,  1819,  and  grew  up  in  the  intelligent 
and  cultivated  society  of  that  college  town.     His  health 
was  always  frail,  and  his  studious  habits  and  mental  pre- 
cocity were  notable  in  his  earliest  childhood.    He  was  but 
eleven  years  old  when  he  entered  Dickinson  College,  but 
his    religious   training  had   already  begun    in  the   home 
and  the  Sunday-school.     The  latter  he  recalled  with  great 
distinctness    and   with   great    satisfaction    in    subsequent 
years.      He  had  but  just  passed  his  twelfth  birthday  when 
he  was  received  into  the  church  at  the  same  time  with 
eighty-three  others,  on  the   15th  of  May,  1831.     The  re- 
markable revival  of  religion  which  prevailed  in  that  and 
the    previous    year  all    over   the  country    had    evidently 
affected  the  church  of  which  Dr.  George  Duffield  had  for 
many  years  been  pastor,  and  to  this  cause  was  due  such 
an  unusually  large  accession  to  its  membership.     There 
has  been  printed  an  interesting  extract  from  the  minutes 
of  that  church,  relating  to  several   meetings  held  at  this 
time  by  its  Session,  in  which  the  case  of  six  boys  between 


Di0courflie 

the  ages  of  eleven  and  thirteen,  who  were  applicants  for 
church-membership,  was  carefully  and  repeatedly  consid- 
ered. They  were  thoroughly  examined  as  to  their  knowl- 
edge of  gospel  truth,  their  religious  experience,  and  their 
motives  for  wishing  to  join  the  church.  And  the  elders 
record  their  surprise  at  the  distinctness  of  the  views  and 
the  definiteness  and  depth  of  the  experience  of  most  of 
them.  One  of  these  boys  was  a  son  of  the  pastor,  and  was 
afterward  known  as  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  Duffield,  author 
of  the  hynm  beginning,  "Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus." 
Another  was  Talbot  W.  Chambers.  Young  as  he  was, 
the  strength  of  his  religious  convictions  and  the  unusual 
fervor  of  his  piety  were  marked  both  in  his  diary  and  in 
his  conduct  from  that  day  forward,  and  they  were  among 
the  most  distinguishing  characteristics  of  his  whole  subse- 
quent life. 

In  the  spring  of  1832  he  was  honorably  dismissed  from 
Dickinson  College,  and  on  the  4th  of  May  admitted  to 
the  Sophomore  class  in  Rutgers  College,  at  New  Bruns- 
wick, N.  J.  The  reason  for  this  change  was  undoubtedly 
the  desire  to  put  himself  under  the  instruction  of  the  noted 
Dr.  Alexander  McClelland,  who  four  years  previously  had 
removed  from  Dickinson  to  Rutgers,  and  had  there  be- 
come Professor  of  Literature.  He  was,  according  to  the 
testimony  of  many  who  knew  him,  not  only  a  preacher  of 
unusual  power,  but  a  man  of  exceptionally  strong  person- 
ality and  a  teacher  of  extraordinary  ability  and  success. 
His  influence  upon  Dr.  Chambers'  mind  and  character  was 
very  deep.  He  afterward  said  that  he  "owed  more  to 
him  than  to  any  other  man  living  or  dead,"  and  the  state- 
ment does  not  appear  to  be  at  all  exaggerated.  Dr. 
Chambers  himself  wrote  many  years  afterward  that  the 
pupils  of  Dr.   McClelland  became  "  not  mere  receptacles 


SE>ifl(cours(e 

of  knowledge  duly  provided  by  other  hands,  but  thinkers, 
who  could  assimilate  what  they  took  in,  incorporate  it  in 
their  own  mental  furniture,  and  reproduce  it  in  other 
appropriate  forms  as  occasion  required."  And  then  he 
adds  a  sentence  which  describes  with  singular  exactness 
his  own  mental  characteristics  :  "  The  young  men  learned 
habits  of  attention,  of  patient  thought,  of  precision,  of  in- 
tellectual honesty  and  of  just  independence."  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  he  himself  learned  these  habits,  which 
were  afterward  so  conspicuous  in  him,  in  large  measure 
from  Dr.  McClelland.  His  instructor  was  also  his  euard- 
ian  and  his  personal  friend.  "  He  always  treated  me," 
he  says,  "with  courtesy  and  kindness,  but  an  excessive 
dread  of  being  in  the  way  prevented  me  from  going  to 
his  tea-table  anything  like  as  often  as  he  cordially,  and  I 
doubt  not  sincerely,  invited  me.  But  I  never  went  with- 
out learning  something  of  great  value.  Whatever  the 
topic,  and  whether  it  were  persons  or  things,  there  was  a 
shrewdness,  insight,  depth,  and  flashing  brilliancy  which 
entranced  and  stimulated  the  lad  whom  a  kind  Providence 
brought  into  such  intercourse."  This  particular  lad  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  in  great  need  of  intellectual  stim- 
ulus, but  his  later  attainments  as  a  scholar,  and  particularly 
his  simplicity,  exactness,  and  thoroughness,  are  probably 
to  be  traced  in  no  small  measure  to  the  inspiring  and 
helpful  influence  of  Dr.  McClelland.  This  broad-minded 
and  high-spirited  teacher  also  sought  to  cultivate  in  him  a 
love  of  literature  and  a  habit  of  wide  and  judicious  read- 
ing, even  in  directions  in  which  his  taste  did  not  naturally 
run  ;  while  his  theological  views  no  doubt  largely  affected 
those  of  the  young  student,  who  nevertheless  showed  on 
more  than  one  occasion  his  own  independence  of  mind. 
Dr.  Chambers  was  graduated  from  Rutgers  College  in 


June,  1834,  when  he  shared  the  second  honor  of  his  class 
with  two  others,  and  received  the  appointment  to  deHver 
the  philosophical  oration.  One  of  his  classmates,*  both 
in  college  and  in  the  theological  seminary,  who  survives 
him,  vividly  recalls  his  personal  appearance  at  that  time. 
"  He  was,"  he  says,  "  the  youngest  member  of  a  class  of 
twenty  earnest  students.  In  presence  he  was  pale,  thin, 
slender,  delicate,  and  not  yet  fully  grown.  His  manners 
were  gentlemanly,  his  address  courteous,  the  tones  of  his 
voice  soft  and  gentle,  his  articulation  correct,  his  speech 
rapid,  his  words  fairly  rippling  from  his  mouth."  He  was 
popular  in  his  relations  with  his  fellow  students,  punctual 
and  diligent  in  his  attention  to  his  college  duties.  Though 
only  fifteen  years  of  age  at  his  graduation,  he  was  fully 
abreast  of  his  class  in  all  branches  of  study.  Even  then 
he  was  a  prompt  and  ready  debater,  and  a  good  writer 
and  speaker.  "  From  the  day  of  his  matriculation  to  that 
of  his  graduation,"  continues  the  same  friend,  "  he  main- 
tained an  open,  firm,  and  consistent  stand  as  a  professing 
Christian  in  his  entire  walk,  whether  public  or  private. 
He  united  with  the  Society  of  Inquiry  with  reference  to 
Missions,  took  an  active  part  in  the  students'  prayer 
meetings,  and  was  regularly  present  at  the  Bible  class, 
taught  every  Sunday  by  President  Milledoler."  He  was 
evidently  as  scrupulous  in  his  attention  to  the  duties  of 
religion  as  he  was  diligent  in  the  performance  of  his  liter- 
ary work. 

The  year  following  his  graduation  he  spent  in  the 
study  of  theology  at  New  Brunswick,  still  under  the  in- 
struction of  Dr.  McClelland,  who  had  now  become  Pro- 
fessor of  Biblical  Literature.  But  in  the  autumn  of  1836 
he  entered  the  seminary  at  Princeton,  where  he  remained 

*Rev.  J.  F.  Mesick,D.D. 
12 


SE>i0cour0e 

for  one  year.  His  health  at  this  time  appears  to  have 
been  exceedingly  delicate,  and  his  studies  were  more  than 
once  interfered  with  by  illness.  He  came  in  contact  at 
Princeton  with  those  noted  men,  Drs.  Archibald  and 
Addison  Alexander,  Dr.  Miller,  and  Dr.  Hodge,  and  was 
impressed  by  the  elevated  spiritual  tone  which  at  that 
time  pervaded  the  institution.  To  his  other  studies  he 
added  those  of  German  and  Arabic,  and  must  have  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  student,  since  he  was  offered  a 
scholarship  yielding  two  hundred  dollars  for  three  years, 
which  was  to  be  assigned  to  the  student  showing  greatest 
zeal  and  ardor  in  the  study  of  sacred  and  oriental  litera- 
ture. His  affections  were  ever  afterward  divided  between 
the  seminaries  at  New  Brunswick  and  at  Princeton.  He 
stood  in  close  relations  with  the  professors  in  each  of 
them,  and  rendered  to  both,  in  various  ways,  effective 
service. 

His  plans  of  study  were  at  this  time  interrupted  by 
financial  embarrassments  in  his  family,  which  threw  upon 
him  the  burden  of  his  own  support  and  that  of  a  younger 
brother  to  whom  he  was  peculiarly  attached.  From  the 
autumn  of  1837  to  the  summer  of  1839  he  was  engaged 
in  teaching  in  private  families  at  the  South,  and  in  the 
midst  of  this  period  he  speaks  in  his  diary  of  the  prospects 
of  his  becoming  a  minister  as  dark  and  gloomy.  He 
prosecuted  his  literary  studies,  however,  with  unabated 
ardor.  It  seems  to  have  been  his  habit  to  read  Hebrew 
before  breakfast  and  Greek  before  dinner,  while  he  pur- 
sued at  the  same  time  the  study  of  Latin,  Italian,  Spanish, 
French,  and  the  English  classics.  He  read  theology  also, 
and  wrote  sermons,  and  was  finally  licensed  to  preach  by 
the  Presbytery  of  Clinton,  Mississippi,  on  the  21st  of 
October,  1838. 


13 


The  controversy  between  the  Old  and  New  School 
parties  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  was  then  at  its  height. 
Dr.  Chambers  had  been  brought  up  in  the  New  School 
views  which  were  held  by  his  father  and  by  his  pastor, 
Dr.  Duffield,  and  he  sympathized  with  the  latter,  as  well 
as  with  Mr.  Barnes  of  Philadelphia,  in  the  persecution 
from  which  they  had  suffered.  This  fact  caused  him  some 
trouble  when  he  was  examined  for  licensure  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Clinton.  It  is  significant  of  the  changes  which 
have  since  taken  place,  that  a  man  so  conservative  as  he 
then  was,  and  as  he  remained  to  the  last,  should  have  been 
suspected  by  some  members  of  the  Southern  Presbytery 
of  being  tainted  with  heresy,  because  of  his  connection 
with  Dr.  Duffield's  church,  and  his  inability  to  adopt  with- 
out further  examination  the  doctrines  of  the  imputation 
of  Adam's  sin  and  of  a  limited  atonement.  It  was  appar- 
ently the  heat  of  this  controversy,  and  his  displeasure  at 
the  course  pursued  by  the  Old  School  wing  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  which  led  him  on  his  return  to  the  North 
to  abandon  the  associations  in  which  he  had  been  brought 
up,  and  connect  himself  with  another  ecclesiastical  body. 
In  August,  1839,  ^^  spite  of  the  persuasions  of  Dr.  Breck- 
enridge  of  Kentucky,  he  decided  to  have  nothing  further 
to  do  with  the  Old  School  Presbyterians,  and  wrote  to 
Dr.  Knox  to  procure  him  a  situation  in  the  Dutch  Church. 
At  the  same  time  he  wrote  Dr.  Hodge,  declining  the  offer 
which  had  been  made  him  of  a  tutorship  and  fellowship  in 
Princeton  College  and  Seminary.  He  was  then  a  little 
more  than  twenty  years  of  age. 

He  soon  received  a  call  from  the  Second  Reformed 
Church  of  Raritan  at  Somerville,  N.  J.,  accepted  it  on  the 
I  St  of  October,  1839,  and  began  preaching  on  the  13th  of 
the  same  month.     Somerville  was  then   a  small  village, 

14 


2Di0course 

containing  only  one  main  street  and  two  shorter  streets 
with  a  few  houses  upon  them,  and  receiving  one  mail 
daily  by  stage  from  New  Brunswick.  The  community  was 
still  suffering  from  the  financial  distress  which  had  befallen 
the  whole  country  two  years  before,  and  the  church  was 
greatly  depressed  and  discouraged.  Mr.  Chambers  was 
ordained  and  installed  on  the  2 2d  of  January,  1840.  In  a 
memorial  sermon  preached  in  the  same  pulpit  fifty  years 
afterward  he  states  that  at  that  time  he  thought  it  an  even 
chance  if  he  should  live  a  year.  "  There  was,"  he  says, 
"  a  form  of  disease  in  my  father's  family  which  had  swept 
away  some  and  threatened  to  sweep  away  others,  and  I 
did  not  know  whether  I  should  prove  an  exception  or  not." 
During  the  first  winter  he  lived  in  the  family  of  one  of 
the  principal  supporters  of  the  church,  four  miles  from 
the  village,  and  congratulated  himself  upon  the  opportu- 
nities for  study  which  he  thus  gained,  free  from  the  dis- 
tractions which  might  have  interrupted  him  if  he  had  lived 
in  the  village  itself.  Under  his  ministry  the  church  pros- 
pered and  grew.  It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  second 
sermon  which  he  preached  there,  on  the  afternoon  of  the 
Sunday  when  he  first  stood  in  its  pulpit,  led  to  the  con- 
version of  a  young  man,  then  a  student  of  law,  who  after- 
ward became  a  respected  and  useful  minister  of  the  Dutch 
Church.'''  His  ministry  was  not  marked  by  seasons  of 
special  religious  awakening.  He  had  himself  been  brought 
into  the  church  in  a  powerful  revival  of  religion,  and  he 
longed  (as  he  says)  to  see  such  an  outpouring  of  the 
Spirit  on  his  own  church.  But  his  wish  was  not  real- 
ized. And  his  feeling  then  and  afterward  was  that  "  it  is 
better  to  have  a  steady  movement,  holding  the  old  lines 
while  pressing  forward  constantly,  than  to   have  a  large 

*Rev.  Elbert  S.  Porter,  D.D. 
15 


and  sudden  increase  in  the  membership."  During  the  ten 
years  of  his  life  at  Somerville  164  persons  were  added  to 
the  church  on  confession  of  faith,  and  126  by  certificate, 
making  a  total  of  290,  and  at  his  resignation  the  number 
of  famiUes  was  orfeater  and  the  number  of  communicants 
two  and  a  half  times  greater  than  when  he  was  installed, 
in  spite  of  the  fact  that  more  than  thirty  families  had  re- 
moved to  organize  another  Reformed  church.  During 
the  same  time  the  financial  as  well  as  numerical  strength 
of  the  church  was  largely  increased,  and  a  commodious 
and   pleasant  parsonage  erected. 

In  this,  his  first  pastorate,  he  began  to  inculcate  the 
principles  of  systematic  beneficence  on  which  he  ever 
afterward  laid  such  stress,  and  caused  offerings  to  be 
made  for  the  Bible  Society,  in  whose  work  he  was  so 
active  in  later  years,  as  well  as  for  the  several  denomi- 
national boards.  He  took,  from  the  first,  a  special  in- 
terest in  the  Sunday-school,  visiting  it  every  Sunday, 
and  making  a  point  of  speaking  with  each  teacher,  while 
four  times  a  year  he  preached  a  sermon  to  children, 
and  ever  afterward  recalled  with  peculiar  satisfaction 
this  feature  of  his  work.  The  recollection  of  what  he 
himself  owed  to  this  form  of  instruction  made  him  a 
warm  friend  of  Sunday-schools  throughout  his  whole  life. 
According  to  the  custom  of  the  day  he  held  regular  classes 
in  various  parts  of  his  parish  for  the  training  of  the  young 
in  Christian  truth,  and  was  conscientious  and  systematic 
in  pastoral  visitation.  Meanwhile  he  continued  his  studies 
with  unwearied  diligence.  The  pastor  of  the  First  Church 
at  that  time  was  the  Rev.  Dr.  Messier,  who  gave  him  his 
charge  at  his  installation.  There  was  one  sentence  in  it 
which  (he  says)  excited  a  great  deal  of  attention  at  the 
time,  but  which  contained,  as  he  thought,  the  essence  of 

16 


2E>ifi(cour0e 

truth,  and  which  at  all  events  states  a  principle  upon 
which  he  ever  afterward  acted.  Dr.  Messier  said  :  "  Re- 
member, my  young  brother,  that  the  lights  of  the  church 
were  great  students  and  not  great  visitors."  He  was 
himself  the  most  learned  of  the  ministers  of  the  county, 
and  had  by  far  the  largest  and  best  selected  library,  which 
was  always  thrown  open  to  his  younger  brother  in  the 
ministry,  and  of  which  the  latter  made  faithful  use.  His 
spirit  toward  other  denominations  of  evangelical  Chris- 
tians is  shown  by  the  fact  t^at  he  once  went  and  preached 
in  a  Methodist  church  at  a  time  when,  as  he  says,  there 
was  hardly  more  communication  between  this  and  the 
Dutch  Church  than  there  was  of  old  between  the  Jews 
and  the  Samaritans.  The  act  made  a  great  stir,  but  it 
contributed,  no  doubt,  to  promote  that  better  state  of 
feeling  which  now  obtains  both  there  and  elsewhere. 

A  little  more  than  a  year  after  his  settlement,  on  the 
2ist  of  May,  1841,  he  married  Miss  Louisa  Mercer, 
daughter  of  Gen.  John  Frelinghuysen,  a  prominent  mem- 
ber of  that  family  whose  name  is  so  honorably  identified 
not  only  with  the  history  of  New  Jersey,  but  with  that  of 
the  country.  It  would  be  impossible  to  say  how  much 
she  contributed,  by  her  energy,  poise,  and  beauty  of  char- 
acter, to  his  happiness  and  his  usefulness  from  that  time 
onward.  His  love  for  her  endured  with  all  the  force  of  a 
youthful  passion,  to  the  end  of  her  life,  and  when  after 
more  than  fifty  years  she  was  suddenly  and  sadly  taken 
from  him,  the  blow  was  one  from  whose  effects  he  never 
fully  recovered. 

The  years  of  his  ministry  at  Somerville  were  marked 
by  great  political  excitement,  and  Dr.  Chambers  always 
took  an  intense  interest  in  public  affairs.  He  was  an 
ardent  Whig,  and  when  Henry  Clay  was  defeated  in  the 

17 


H)ifl(cour0e 

Presidential  campaign  of  1844,  he  felt,  as  did  many  others, 
as  if  he  had  "lost  every  friend  he  had  in  the  world."  It 
was  his  habit  to  visit  daily  the  office  of  the  local  news- 
paper, the  "  Somerset  Whig,"  whose  editor  was  a  member 
of  his  church,  where  he  had  an  opportunity  to  read  a  New 
York  paper,  for  which  he  could  not  afford  to  subscribe. 
Here  he  often  sat  down  and  wrote  editorial  articles  on 
current  political  topics,  which  were  copied  by  the  editor 
before  being  sent  to  the  press,  so  that  their  authorship 
was  never  discovered.  At  times  nearly  every  original 
article  in  the  paper  had  come  from  his  pen. 

Of  his  ministry  in  this  quiet  village  he  himself  speaks 
in  his  anniversary  sermon  with  his  accustomed  modesty  : 
"  It  was,"  he  says,  "  uneventful.  I  tried  to  be  faithful, 
instructive  and  tender."  But  the  reminiscences  which  he 
gives,  as  well  as  the  affection  in  which  he  was  always  held 
by  the  people,  testify  to  the  earnestness,  the  fidelity  and 
the  singleness  of  purpose  with  which  he  served  the  church 
and  the  community.  He  frankly  says  that  he  made  mis- 
takes, and  some  of  those  which  he  acknowledges  are  both 
interesting  and  instructive.  But  the  church  expressed  its 
honor  and  gratitude  for  him,  at  his  death,  in  resolutions 
which  recognize  his  acceptable  labors  in  its  infancy — "  la- 
bors which  laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  its  pres- 
ent prosperity." 

He  had  received  in  1843  a  call  to  another  church, 
which,  at  the  earnest  desire  of  his-  own  people,  he  had 
declined.  In  1849  ^^  "^"^^s  called  to  be  one  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  Collegiate  Church  in  this  city.  This  he  was 
also  at  first  disposed  to  put  aside,  but  he  accepted  it 
finally,  partly  by  the  urgent  advice  of  Dr.  McClelland, 
who  pointed  out  to  him  the  advantages  which  it  offered  in 
the  way  of  his  own  intellectual  culture,  as  well  as  the  large 

18 


Dificours^e 

and  varied  opportunities  of  useful  work  which  it  afforded. 
He  was  installed  in  the  church  on  Lafayette  Place  on  the 
2nd  of  December,  1849.  -^^  came  to  take  the  place  of 
Dr.  Brownlee,  who,  though  still  in  unimpaired  mental 
vigor,  had  been  incapacitated  by  a  stroke  of  paralysis  from 
the  further  performance  of  public  service.  Dr.  Knox,  Dr. 
DeWitt,  and  Dr.  Vermilye  were  then  at  the  height  of  their 
ability  and  usefulness,  and  their  personal  character,  as  well 
as  their  relation  as  colleagues  to  each  other,  gave  them 
a  peculiar  standing  and  pow^r  in  the  community.  The 
church  was  not  only  the  leading  church  of  the  denomina- 
tion, but  one  of  great  prominence  in  the  city.  The  con- 
gregations in  Lafayette  Place  especially  were  at  that  time  so 
large  that  an  edifice  on  Ninth  Street,  which  has  since  been 
removed,  was  then  in  regular  use.  Here,  as  well  as  in  the 
North  and  Middle  Churches,  Dr.  Chambers  preached  in 
his  turn.  He  continued  thus  to  officiate  until  November, 
1 87 1,  when  he  was  assigned  by  the  Consistory  to  special 
duty  in  the  Middle  Church,  on  Lafayette  Place.  For 
about  forty-three  years  he  rendered  full  ministerial  service. 
Meanwhile  his  colleagues,  at  the  beginning,  one  by  one, 
passed  away — Dr.  Knox  in  1858,  Dr.  DeWitt  in  1874,  and 
Dr.  Vermilye  a  little  more  than  three  years  ago.  Others 
came  in  their  places,  of  whom  three  resigned  and  removed 
to  other  fields  of  labor.  New  church  edifices  were 
erected,  and  the  old  North  Church  disappeared.  With 
the  constant  movement  of  population  in  the  city,  the 
neighborhood  of  the  Middle  Church  was  greatly  changed. 
The  character  of  the  service  required  there  was  also 
changed.  The  old  congregation  was  gone.  There  was 
need  of  a  younger  man  for  a  more  distinctively  missionary 
work.  And  one  such  man  after  another  was  employed, 
while  Dr.  Chambers  still  remained  In  charge  of  the  con- 

19 


HDiflfcourste 

gregation,  and  regularly  officiated  as  its  pastor.  This 
continued  until  the  building  was  finally  removed,  and  the 
work  transferred  to  its  present  location,  but  his  interest  in 
and  his  connection  with  it  never  ceased.  At  the  same 
time  the  fact  that  he  was  for  many  years  the  oldest  minis- 
ter of  the  Collegiate  Church  in  active  service,  and  for 
three  years  its  oldest  minister,  gave  him  a  peculiar  relation 
of  influence  to  all  the  operations  carried  forward  by  this 
organization.  He  was  often  present  in  the  other  pulpits 
besides  that  which  was  distinctively  his  own,  and  many 
who  did  not  personally  know  him  as  their  pastor  were 
familiar  with  him  as  a  preacher,  and  held  him  in  honor 
because  of  his  age,  his  attainments,  and  his  distinguished 
position  in  the  church  and  the  community. 

So  long,  however,  as  the  system  of  rotation  continued 
he  was  intimately  known  in  all  our  congregations,  and 
his  power  as  a  preacher  and  his  personal  influence  as  a 
man  were  felt  by  all  who  were  in  any  way  connected  with 
this  church.  His  sermons  produced  a  profound  effect 
upon  the  thought  and  the  character  of  many  who  heard 
them.  His  style  was  remarkably  clear,  logical,  scriptural 
and  earnest.  For  twenty  years  or  more  it  was  his  habit 
to  write  the  sermon  which  he  preached  in  the  morning, 
and  to  preach  from  brief  notes  at  the  second  service  on 
the  Lord's  day.  He  adopted  the  latter  course  almost  ex- 
clusively in  later  years.  But  his  discourses  were  always 
carefully  prepared,  and  his  early  practice  and  long  expe- 
rience made  him,  if  not  a  fluent,  at  least  a  self-possessed, 
effective  and  sometimes  impassioned  speaker.  He  was 
not  distinguished  for  rhetorical  grace,  but  he  had  unusual 
power  in  the  analysis  and  unfolding  of  his  theme,  and  un- 
usual terseness  and  vigor  in  his  use  of  words.  Many  of 
his  sermon   outlines  were  marvels   of  lucid,  orderly  and 


SDi0cour0e 

comprehensive  exposition.  The  doctrinal  element  was 
large  in  his  preaching,  and  the  doctrines  which  he  held 
were  those  which  are  contained  in  the  accepted  standards 
of  the  Dutch  Church.  He  was  a  theologian  by  nature 
and  training — familiar  with  the  history  of  theology,  acute 
and  discriminating  in  theological  distinctions.  Yet  he 
seldom  presented  the  truth  from  the  pulpit  in  abstract 
forms,  and  he  had  a  strong  disapproval  of  the  use  of 
technical  or  unfamiliar  terms.  But  the  system  of  doctrine 
in  which  he  had  been  trained  in  his  boyhood  was  wrought 
into  the  very  substance  of  his  thought.  His  mind  craved 
logical  exactness  and  completeness.  It  was  intolerant  of 
what  is  vague  and  impatient  of  speculations  which  seemed 
to  him  to  have  little  foundation  in  human  reason,  and 
none  whatever  in  the  word  of  God.  His  faith  in  the  di- 
vine revelation  was  absolute.  The  authority  of  the  Scrip- 
tures was  for  him  unquestionable  and  final.  Their  plain 
declarations  regarding  the  majesty  and  holiness  of  God, 
the  guilt  and  helplessness  of  man,  the  supremacy  of  the 
moral  law,  the  doom  which  inevitably  follows  sin,  the  re- 
deeming grace  revealed  in  Christ,  the  need  and  the  efficacy 
of  His  satisfaction  for  human  guilt,  the  necessity  of  re- 
generation by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  certainty 
of  the  coming  judgment  and  the  unalterable  issues  of  the 
life  everlasting — these  he  received  with  a  reverent  and 
implicit  faith.  He  held  them  with  the  utmost  intensity 
and  tenacity  of  conviction  and  insisted  upon  them  in  all 
his  preaching  as  truths  on  whose  acceptance  the  eternal 
destiny  of  every  man  depended.  Whatever  in  them  was 
obscure  or  difficult  of  belief  he  was  satisfied  to  leave  with 
God,  of  whose  wisdom  and  grace  he  had  the  most  perfect 
assurance.  His  own  sensitiveness  of  conscience  led  him 
to  take  a  view  of  the  nature  and  guilt  of  sin  which  is  not 


2Di£{cour0e 

now  as  common  as  it  was  when  he  was  young.  And  this 
colored  all  his  theological  thinking,  giving  him  at  once  an 
exalted  estimate  of  the  demands  of  divine  justice,  and  a 
profound  appreciation  of  the  wonders  of  divine  grace. 
Hence  his  preaching  was  always  grave  and  solemn, 
sometimes  stern  in  its  tone,  but  often  affectionately  and 
tenderly  earnest.  He  had  the  natural  reverence  of  a  con- 
servative mind  for  the  past,  and  a  true  scholar's  veneration 
for  the  authority  of  the  leading  minds  in  the  history  of 
the  Church.  He  spoke  with  the  utmost  respect  of  the 
great  divines  of  Geneva,  Dort  and  Westminster,  and 
he  could  not  believe  that  any  wide  departure  from  the 
system  of  doctrine  which  they  elaborated  or  accepted 
could  be  in  harmony  with  the  truth.  His  deep  personal 
humility  had,  no  doubt,  much  to  do  with  the  develop- 
ment and  the  permanence  of  his  theological  judgments. 
With  his  wealth  of  knowledge  and  his  activity  of  mind 
he  had  no  sympathy  with  the  ambitious  and  self-con- 
fident spirit  which  characterizes  much  of  our  current 
Christian  thought.  For  novelties  in  theology  he  had 
an  equal  aversion  and  contempt,  and  he  was  absolutely 
sure  that  they  were  destined  to  be  driven  away  as  chaff 
before  the  whirlwind  in  the  irresistible  progress  of  the 
truth  as  it  had  been  once  for  all  delivered  to  the 
saints.  He  was  fond  of  quoting  the  familiar  utter- 
ance of  one  of  the  early  fathers  of  the  Church:  "Nu- 
becula est,  transibit ; "  "  it  is  a  little  cloud  and  will  pass 
away  ;"  while  he  felt  the  utmost  assurance  that  the  word 
of  our  God,  as  it  was  held  and  proclaimed  in  other  days 
by  the  illustrious  confessors  and  martyrs  of  the  faith,  will 
stand  forever. 

He  lived   lono'  enouo;h   to  see  sfreat  chanofes   in  the 
popular  and  prevalent  style  of  preaching,  but  he  himself 


adhered  to  that  which  he  adopted  in  his  early  life.  His 
sermons  were  always  addressed  to  the  reason  and  the 
conscience  rather  than  to  the  emotions.  He  souo-ht.  like 
the  apostle  Paul,  to  "persuade  men,"  and  not  simply  to 
move  them  either  to  terror  or  to  tears.  His  view  of  the 
preacher's  office,  often  expressed  both  in  public  and  pri- 
vate, was  that  his  function  is  primarily  that  of  a  teacher, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  explain,  defend,  and  enforce  the  truth 
that  is  contained  in  the  gospel.  And  this  he  himself  did 
with  extraordinary  simplicity,  clearness,  and  cogency. 
Testimony  has  been  given  by  some  of  those  who  heard 
him,  who  were  not  themselves  well  educated  or  accus- 
tomed to  religious  thought,  as  to  the  help  which  they  had 
derived  from  sermons  in  which  divine  truth  was  made  so 
plain.  He  loved  to  preach,  and  was  never  at  a  loss  for  a 
text  or  for  a  theme.  Nor  was  this  because  of  the  intel- 
lectual pleasure  which  he  derived  from  the  exercise,  but 
because  of  his  earnest  desire  to  make  others  see  the  truth 
and  yield  to  the  demands  and  the  invitations  of  the  gospel. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  intensity  of  feeling,  as  well  as 
clearness  and  vigor  of  thought,  and  this  revealed  itself 
sometimes  in  the  vehemence  and  sometimes  in  the  tender- 
ness of  his  words  and  tones.  The  latter  was  especially 
evident  in  the  addresses  which  he  delivered  at  the  Lord's 
table ;  and  together  with  the  fervor  of  his  faith  it  gave 
great  effect  not  only  to  his  public  discourses,  but  to  his 
private  counsels  with  those  who  sought  from  him  comfort 
and  help  in  the  Christian  life.  There  are  those  still  liv- 
ing, and  there  are  undoubtedly  others  in  the  great  com- 
pany to  which  he  has  now  been  added,  who  feel  profoundly 
grateful  to  him  for  his  influence  on  their  thought  and  their 
character. 

Always  tenacious  of  his  own  rights  as  well  as  of  ancient 

23 


EDiflfcourflte 

tradition  and  usage, '^  Dr.  Chambers  did  not  accept  with- 
out protest  the  arrangement  which  terminated  the  practice 
of  rotation  in  preaching,  and  assigned  him  to  a  church 
which  was  already  decHning  in  strength.  There  were  also 
from  time  to  time  other  sharp  differences  of  opinion  and 
feeling  between  him  and  his  colleagues  and  associates. 
But  he  was  always  thoroughly  loyal  to  this  church,  with 
whose  history  from  the  outset  he  made  himself  so  familiar 
and  to  whose  reputation  he  himself  contributed  so  much. 
He  took  an  active  and  prominent  part  in  the  conduct  of 
all  its  affairs,  and  always  earnestly  favored  whatever 
seemed  to  him  fitted  to  promote  its  welfare  and  advance- 
ment. He  enjoyed  to  the  last  the  undiminished  esteem 
and  honor  of  those  who  were  through  their  official  posi- 
tion most  intimately  associated  with  him.  We  all  recog- 
nized the  wisdom  and  the  authority  with  which  he  spoke, 
and  we  feel  that  in  his  death  this  church  has  lost  its 
brightest  ornament,  while  there  has  been  taken  from  us  a 
counsellor  and  leader  whom  we  could  ill  afford  to  spare. 

He  was  also  most  loyal  and  patriotic  as  a  citizen.  His 
residence  at  the  South  made  him  unsympathetic  with  the 
anti-slavery  agitation  which  preceded  the  civil  war,  and  he 
openly  condemned — what  was  then  not  uncommon — the 
discussion  of  political  questions,  from  any  point  of  view, 
in  the  pulpit.  He  himself  has  said  that  during  this  period 
Dr.  Vermilye  differed  from  his  colleagues.  "  We  were 
conservative  and  inclined  to  compromise  ;  he,  on  the  con- 
trary, was  outspoken  for  vigorous  action.  In  the  issue  it 
appeared  that  he  was  right  and  we  were   wrong.     But 

♦Thus  he  was  the  last  of  the  Collegiate  ministers  to  continue  in  the  public  service  on  the  Lord's 
Day  the  ancient  usage  of  the  exordium  remotutn,  a  brief  intimation,  commonly  introduced  before  the 
'*  long  prayer,"  of  the  subject  on  which  he  was  about  to  preach.  In  this  he  was  often  very  felicitous. 
An  excellent  example  of  it  may  be  found  in  his  discourse  entitled,  "  Fifty  Years  of  Church  Life." 
He  was  also  the  last  of  them  to  wear  a  dress-coat  on  the  street  in  the  daytime.  This  had  been  the  ac- 
cepted ministerial  dress  in  the  period  of  his  youth,     He  abandoned  it,  however,  in  his  later  years. 

24 


SDifltcourfiie 

when  the  shock  of  arms  occurred,  we  were  all  steadfast 
and  unyielding  in  support  of  the  Union  cause.  In  that 
solemn  crisis  there  was  no  uncertain  sound  in  any  of  the 
Collegiate  pulpits."  This  is  certainly  true  of  his  own 
preaching  if  the  tone  of  it  can  be  inferred  from  the  lan- 
guage of  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to  the  "Christian  Intel- 
ligencer," in  the  summer  of  1862,  in  which  the  following 
sentences  occur  :  "  The  administration  must  go  to  work 
in  earnest.  The  war  forced  upon  us  by  this  causeless  and 
wicked  rebellion  must  be  made  real,  terrible,  remorseless. 
It  is  no  time  now  to  regard  the  scruples  of  any  man  or 
State  or  set  of  States.  We  are  at  war,  and  the  best  way 
to  shorten  the  conflict  is  to  make  it  sharp.  Let  towns  be 
bombarded  ;  cities  stormed  ;  slaves  freed,  disciplined,  and 
armed  ;  whole  tracts  of  country  wasted  by  fire  and  sword — 
anything,  yes,  anything  warranted  by  the  rules  of  war,  to 
end  this  contest.  Right,  duty,  interest,  and  humanity,  all 
call  upon  us  to  act  with  fiery  energy  and  the  sternest  de- 
cision. A  little  war  is  at  once  nonsense  and  cruelty.  It 
is  a  question  of  life  and  death  with  the  country,  and  no 
interest  under  heaven  should  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the 
way.  I,  for  one,  would  be  willing  to  see  the  entire  South, 
from  Norfolk  to  Matamoras,  a  literal  desert,  rather  than 
have  our  nationality  destroyed."  In  later  years,  while  not 
a  violent  partisan,  he  was  no  less  firm  and  fearless  in  the 
utterance  of  his  opinions  upon  all  questions  involving 
sound  principles  of  government  and  the  purity  of  national 
life. 

His  position  in  the  Collegiate  Church,  not  more  than 
his  natural  temperament,  made  him  a  leader  in  the  coun- 
sels of  the  denomination.  Though  he  came  into  it  from 
another  ecclesiastical  body,  he  was  from  the  outset  at 
home  in   the    Dutch    Church.     He  was   in  a  remarkable 


25 


H)i0cour0e 

degree  familiar  with  its  history,  and  proud  of  it.  He 
thoroughly  understood  and  accepted  its  doctrines.  Its 
spirit  and  usages  were  in  harmony  with  his  sense  of  pro- 
priety. He  was  strenuous  for  the  observance  of  its  con- 
stitutional requirements,  and  extremely  jealous  of  anything 
which  in  his  judgment  tended  to  impair  its  purity  or  dis- 
turb its  peace.  He  was  one  of  the  most  regular  and 
active  members  of  the  Classis,  and  more  than  any  one 
else,  by  his  promptness,  his  good  judgment,  his  readiness 
in  discussion,  his  familiarity  with  ecclesiastical  usage,  and 
the  force  of  his  character,  he  led  it  in  the  transaction  of 
the  business  which  from  time  to  time  came  before  it.  He 
was  also  repeatedly  a  delegate  to  the  General  Synod  of 
the  Reformed  Church,  over  which  he  presided  in  the  year 
1863.  One  of  our  oldest  and  most  respected  ministers* 
writes  of  him  in  this  relation  as  follows  :  "  Dr.  Chambers 
seldom  if  ever  appeared  to  greater  advantage  than  in 
debate  on  some  great  question  seriously  affecting  the  wel- 
fare of  the  church.  Then  the  keenness  and  quickness  of 
his  perception,  his  lucidity  of  statement,  his  felicity  in  dic- 
tion, his  grasp  and  mastery  alike  of  the  subject  as  a  whole 
and  of  its  several  details,  his  cogency  in  argument,  his  im- 
perturbable self-possession,  the  intensity  of  his  convictions, 
and  his  absolute  devotion  to  the  truth  and  the  interests 
of  the  church  as  he  understood  them,  came  conspicuously 
into  view  and  made  him  a  recognized  leader  among  men. 
Taking  him  all  in  all,  I  have  never  heard  anyone  whom  I 
regarded  as  his  superior  in  debate  before  a  deliberative 
assembly,  and  I  have  seldom  heard  one  who  seemed  to 
me  to  be  his  equal."  He  was  thus  led  to  take  part  in  the 
discussion  of  several  questions,  which  aroused  much 
feeling  at  the  moment,  and  which   concerned  matters  of 

♦Rev.  A.  P.  Van  Gieson,  D.D. 
26 


highest  importance  to  the  welfare  of  the  church.  One  of 
these  was  the  proposed  change  in  the  title  of  the  church, 
when,  in  the  Synod  of  1867,  Dr.  Chambers  resisted  with 
all  his  might  the  proposition  to  drop  from  it  the  word 
"  Dutch."  The  debate  was  conducted  for  hours  with 
masterly  ability  on  both  sides.  He  was  finally  beaten, 
but  he  always  thought  that  the  church  suffered  serious 
injury  by  the  removal  from  its  official  name  of  the  word 
which  to  his  mind  represented  that  which  was  most  glori- 
ous in  its  history  and  most  distinctive  in  its  doctrinal 
position. 

A  similar  and  equally  characteristic  incident  in  his  life 
was  his  opposition,  maintained  through  several  years  and 
culminating  at  the  meeting  of  the  Synod  in  1863,  to  the 
policy  of  co-operation  with  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
foreign  missionary  work.  His  interest  in  that  work  dated 
from  his  youth.  It  was  for  a  long  time  his  intention  to 
devote  himself  to  it.  A  formal  resolution  to  this  effect 
appears  in  his  diary  under  date  of  September  ist,  1835, 
after  his  first  year  of  study  at  the  seminary  at  New  Bruns- 
wick. On  the  26th  of  April  following  he  notes  the  fact 
that  he  then  for  the  first  time  communicated  this  inten- 
tion to  his  "  dear  mother."  As  she  made  no  objection, 
he  considered  his  future  course  settled,  so  far  as  he  him- 
self was  concerned.  He  was  then  sixteen  and  a  half  years 
of  age.  Some  months  later  he  carefully  scrutinized  the 
motives  which  led  him  to  choose  the  foreign  missionary 
field,  and  recorded  his  conviction  that  in  this  sphere  of 
labor  he  would  be  "  treading  more  nearly  in  the  footsteps 
of  his  divine  Master  than  he  could  possibly  do  in  any 
other."  He  even  went  so  far  as  to  add  the  study  of  med- 
icine to  others  which  he  was  then  pursuing,  and  continued 
this  for  a  time,  as  likely  to  increase  his  usefulness  as  a 

27 


H>i0courde 

missionary  in  heathen  lands.     During  the  year  which  he 
spent   in   the  seminary  at  Princeton  he  formed  with  two 
others  a  society  for  mutual  help  in  preparation  for  this 
work.     When  and  why  he  abandoned  this  purpose  does 
not    plainly  appear,   but   it  was  probably  because  of  his 
physical  weakness  and  of  the  necessity  laid  upon  him  to 
aid    in    his   brother's    support.     It    is  not  at  all  strange, 
therefore,  that  he  should  have  felt  throughout  his  life  the 
deepest  interest   in  this  work.     The  action  of  the  Gen- 
eral    Synod  of    1857,  by  which    the    Reformed    Church 
assumed  the  care  of  its  own  foreign  missions,  independ- 
ently of  the  American    Board    with   which    it    had    until 
then  co-operated,  was  largely  due  to  an  able  report  which 
he  prepared  and  a  convincing  address  by  which  he  sup- 
ported it.      It  cannot  be  questioned  that  the  effect  of  this 
was  greatly  to  quicken  the  zeal  and  increase  the  liberality 
of  our  church  in  the  foreign  missionary  cause.     It  was 
from  the  outset  Dr.  Chambers'   conviction  that  the  de- 
nominational forms  and   institutions  established  at  home 
should  be  reproduced  abroad.     And  when  the  mission- 
aries opposed  this,  and  asked  leave  to  co-operate  in  China 
with  their  English  Presbyterian  brethren,  he  strenuously 
resisted  this  policy.     For  seven  years  he  held  this  ground 
with    his  wonted    tenacity,  and  even  left  the  President's 
chair  in  the  Synod  of  1863  for  the  purpose  of  answering 
Dr.    Talmage   and   protesting   against   the  more   liberal 
course   which  he  advocated.     As  the    Secretary  of   our 
Foreign    Board,  Dr.   Cobb,  has  recently  written  :  "  The 
day  of  co-operation  in  foreign  missions  had  dawned  as  yet 
only  on  the  fields  and  toilers   in  the  East,  but  when  its 
light  streamed  westward,  and  our  home  churches  caught 
the  gleam,  no  one  received  it  more  gladly  or  more  wholly 
than  did   Dr.  Chambers.     It  was   in  consonance  with  the 

28 


rDintouvsit 

utter  truthfulness  and  magnanimity  of  the  man  that  he 
should  say  publicly  at  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Talmage,  '  He 
was  right  and  I  was  wrong.'  He  said  the  same  thing  also 
in  the  Board,  and  on  the  floor  of  the  Synod."  It  was  in- 
deed characteristic  of  him  frankly  to  admit  an  error  of 
judgment  which  the  course  of  subsequent  events  had 
made  plain.  If  he  had  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  he 
had  the  still  greater  courage,  as  well  as  the  rare  honesty, 
to  confess  his  occasional  mistakes.  I  may  properly  add 
here  that  the  principle  of  co-operation  in  foreign  missions 
has  in  recent  years  had  no  more  earnest  advocate,  and  as 
President  of  the  Board  (a  position  which  he  has  filled 
since  1888)  he  rendered  to  this  most  important  cause  con- 
stant and  invaluable  service  to  the  very  close  of  his  life. 
His  repeated  efforts  in  raising  funds  for  its  relief,  his  own 
almost  lavish  contributions  to  it,  his  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  its  details,  his  kindly  interest  in  individual 
missionaries,  his  readiness  to  consult  and  to  labor  for  its 
advancement,  and  his  unfaltering  faith  in  it  as  a  work 
to  which  the  Church  is  imperatively  summoned  by  the  ex- 
press command  of  the  Master — for  these  alone  he 
deserves  to  be  long  remembered  with  gratitude  and  with 
honor. 

In  such  animated  discussions  as  those  to  which  I 
have  just  alluded  it  may  have  appeared  to  some  of  those 
who  were  present,  as  one'''  of  them  writes,  "  that  Dr. 
Chambers  was  somewhat  cold  and  hard,  lacking  in  sym- 
pathy with  and  consideration  for  others  ;  that  his  very 
devotion  to  what  appeared  to  him  to  be  the  truth  and  the 
riofht  made  him  sometimes  unmindful  of  human  sensibil- 
ities."  But  as  time  passed  on  even  those  who  felt  this 
keenly  thirty  years  ago  observed  in  him  a  marked  change. 

*Rev.  A.  P.  Van  Gieson,  D.D. 
29 


"While  his  devotion  to  the  truth  was  in  no  wise  dimin- 
ished," says  the  same  friend,  "  his  sympathy  with  men 
manifestly  increased.  He  not  only  spoke  the  truth,  but 
spoke  it  in  ever-increasing  love  ;  and  in  his  latter  years, 
combined  with  his  unabated  intellectual  vigor,  there  were 
a  gentleness,  a  sweetness,  a  tenderness  and  a  childlike 
simplicity  of  spirit,  which  more  than  once  made  one  think 
of  the  beloved  disciple  whose  head  leaned  on  his  Master's 
breast."  No  man  in  the  Dutch  Church  has  done  more 
during  the  last  forty  years,  not  only  to  expedite  the  trans- 
action of  business  in  its  principal  assembly,  but  to  shape 
its  policy  on  important  questions.  In  ordinary  matters  it 
was  felt  that  it  was  safe  to  trust  him,  and  on  serious  issues 
it  was  dangerous  to  oppose  him. 

During  all  the  years  of  his  connection  with  the  Colle- 
giate Church  he  prosecuted  without  interruption  his  bib- 
lical and  classical  studies.  It  was  his  habit  to  rise  early, 
sometimes  before  five  o'clock,  never  later  than  six,  and  to 
read  three  or  four  chapters  in  the  Hebrew  or  Greek  Tes- 
tament before  breakfast.  He  adopted  this  habit,  as  he 
once  told  me,  because  he  found  it  impossible  to  secure  at 
any  other  hour  in  the  day  the  leisure  and  the  quiet  that 
he  desired  for  the  study  of  God's  word.  But  the  greater 
part  of  all  his  time  was  occupied  in  study.  He  called 
himself  a  "bookish  man."  He  read  constantly,  widely  ; 
he  made  a  business  of  reading.  Next  to  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures he  would  perhaps  himself  have  reckoned  the  Greek 
and  Latin  classics.  One  of  his  chief  pleasures  came  from 
his  membership  since  1870  in  a  small  circle  of  gentlemen 
who  regularly  met  for  the  purpose  of  reading  together 
the  Greek  authors.  He  seldom  allowed  anything  to  in- 
terfere with  his  presence  at  these  meetings.  It  was,  of 
course,  upon  subjects  connected  with  theology  and  religion 

30 


2Difl(courfi(e 

that  he  read  most  diligently  and  extensively.  He  was 
well  acquainted  with  general  history,  especially  familiar 
with  church  history,  and  minutely  conversant  with  the 
history  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  Europe  and  in  this 
country.  In  regard  to  everything  which  concerned  the 
doctrines,  laws,  and  usages  of  the  Dutch  Church,  both 
here  and  in  Holland,  he  was  an  acknowledged  authority. 
Current  discussions  of  religious  questions  received  his 
prompt  and  interested  attention.  He  seemed  always  to 
have  read  the  newest  booko,  those  with  whose  sentiments 
he  totally  disagreed  as  well  as  those  which  he  approved. 
Such  works  he  read  carefully  and  critically,  freely  noting 
in  the  margin  his  commendation  or  his  dissent.  He  did 
not,  however,  confine  himself  to  this  species  of  literature, 
but  read  whatever  came  to  hand — poetry,  fiction,  the 
most  recent  plays,  partly  for  mental  rest  and  refreshment 
and  partly  that  he  might  know  what  other  people  were 
reading.  The  habit  which  he  continued  for  many  years 
of  writing  notices  of  new  books  for  more  than  one  news- 
paper and  review,  not  only  brought  all  sorts  of  publica- 
tions to  his  library  table,  but  made  him  acquainted  with 
many  works  which  otherwise  perhaps  would  not  have 
cauQ-ht  his  attention. 

He  was  a  constant  writer,  as  well  as  a  keen  and  eager 
reader.  From  year  to  year  he  contributed  a  large  number 
of  articles  to  several  religious  journals,  on  a  great  variety 
of  subjects.  These  papers,  more  or  less  elaborate,  were 
always  carefully  prepared,  clear,  concise,  vigorous  in 
thought,  and  of  much  more  than  ephemeral  value.  They 
sometimes  appeared  as  editorials,  and  were  sometimes 
signed  with  his  name.  They  were  frequently  criticisms 
upon  something  which  had  fallen  under  his  eye  in  his 
reading,    and    frequently   they   contained  the   results   of 

31 


SDiflicoursie 

studies  which  had  occupied  him  for  many  days  or  weeks. 
He  was  never  weary  of  pointing  out  what  he  regarded  as 
erroneous  teaching,  and  of  presenting,  in  compact  and 
cogent  form,  the  truth  which  he  beheved  to  be  ignored  or 
assailed.  He  was  thus  led  to  take  a  somewhat  prominent 
position  as  an  opponent  of  the  higher  criticism,  so  far  as 
many  of  its  methods  and  conclusions  are  concerned,  and 
as  a  champion  of  the  conservative  view  of  the  origin  and 
authority  of  the  Bible.  For  such  discussions  he  was 
specially  prepared  by  his  scholarly  training,  his  learning, 
and  his  habit  of  cautious,  patient,  and  thorough  research. 
His  opinions  were  consequently  respected  even  by  those 
who  did  not  agree  with  them,  and  he  was  generally  looked 
upon  as  one  of  the  ablest,  as  he  was  one  of  the  most  un- 
compromising, representatives  of  the  school  of  thought  to 
which  he  belonged.  He  held  most  firmly  to  the  absolute 
integrity  and  inerrancy  of  the  Scriptures,  and  regarded 
the  theories  of  their  origin  which  are  now  widely  accepted 
among  German,  English,  and  American  scholars  as  fatal 
to  their  divine  authority  and  subversive  of  the  Christian 
faith.  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  his  view  of  the  conse- 
quences to  which,  as  it  seemed  to  him,  such  theories 
necessarily  tended,  gave  to  his  mind  a  certain  bias  which 
made  him  sometimes  unjust  both  toward  the  opinions 
which  he  assailed  and  toward  those  by  whom  these  were 
held.  Keen  as  his  mental  vision  was,  he  lacked  the  free- 
dom and  fearlessness  which  characterize  the  scholarship  of 
the  present  generation.  What  he  conceived  to  be  doc- 
trinal error  he  regarded  as  treachery  to  the  truth.  And  he 
could  not  believe  that  those  whose  modes  of  thought  and 
statement  appeared  to  him  novel  and  dangerous  might  be 
at  heart  as  loyal  as  himself  to  the  fundamental  principles 
of  Christianity.      Nor  was  his  mind  capable  of  justly  ap- 

32 


SDi^courfie 


predating  subtle  shades  of  thought,  or  of  putting  itself  at  a 
point  of  view  very  different  from  that  to  which  he  had  long 
been  accustomed.     He  remained,  therefore,  the  vigorous 
and  vehement  opponent  of  those  theories  concerning  the 
Bible  which  have  come  to  be  so  prevalent  in  our  day. 
He  would  make  no  concessions  to  them.     He  stood  firmly 
to  the  last  where  he  stood  at  the  beginning.      Not  that  he 
was  the  enemy  of  all  progress  in  theological  thinking  ;  he 
frankly  acknowledged  that  its  history  has  hitherto  been 
characterized  by  steady  development.   -  But  he  held  that 
"so  far  as  the  greater  part  of  dogmatic  theology  is  con- 
cerned, the  limits  of  progress  have  been  reached,  and  the 
historic  faith  of  Christians  is  finally  settled."   He  admitted 
that  "  other  parts  of  the  system  have  never  yet  been  fully 
developed  and  still  await  a  more  definite  determination, 
such  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  of  the  last  things,  and 
of  inspiration."     But  he   felt  that    any  attack    upon  the 
integrity  of  the  Bible  is  an  assault  upon  the  inner  citadel 
of  the  faith  ;    and  he  was  resolved  that   for  himself  he 
would  yield  no  position  and  ask   no  quarter.     With  all 
this,  however,  he  was  the  most  honest  as  well  as  the  most 
positive  and  fearless  of  men.      He  had  a  great  contempt 
for  sciolism,  and  was   never  ashamed  to  confess  his  own 
ignorance.     And  whether  or  not  we  agree  with  him  in  the 
opinions  which  he  so  earnestly  maintained,  we  cannot  but 
admire  his  unfaltering  loyalty  to  what  he  conceived  to  be 
the  truth,  and  be  grateful  to  him  for  the  force  and  the 
faithfulness  with  which  he  defended,  in  the  press  as  well 
as  in  the  pulpit,  the  cardinal  principles  of   Christianity. 
His  brief  but   thoughtful  papers,  appearing  week   after 
week  for  many  years,   have   unquestionably  done   great 
service  in  strengthening  the  faith  of  those  who  were  in 
doubt,  and  in  throwing  light  upon  obscure  passages  of 


33 


2E)t0courfl;c 

Scripture,  and  upon  perplexing  questions  relating  to  Chris- 
tian experience  and  thought. 

These  studious  habits,  this  wide  and  exact  learning, 
and  this  rare  command  of  his  mental  resources,  enabled 
him  to  do  what  very  few  pastors,  I  imagine,  would  be  able 
to  do,  namely,  to  pass  from  the  pulpit  for  a  time  to  the 
professor's  chair.  This  he  did,  however,  more  than  once, 
taking  the  place  of  Dr.  Schaff  from  January  to  June,  1877, 
and  giving  instruction  in  New  Testament  exegesis  in 
Union  Theological  Seminary ;  and  performing  the  same 
service  in  the  Seminary  at  Hartford  in  1877,  and  at 
Princeton  in  the  winter  of  1892.  Besides  this  he  gave  at 
New  Brunswick,  in  1876,  the  Vedder  Lectures,  which  were 
afterward  published  in  the  little  volume  called  "  The 
Psalter;  a  Witness  to  the  Divine  Origin  of  the  Bible." 
In  October,  1894,  he  delivered  a  course  of  ten  lectures  on 
The  Law,  before  the  students  of  Lane  Theological  Semin- 
ary. He  published  at  different  times  a  sketch  of  the 
Noon  Prayer  Meeting  in  Fulton  Street,  a  Memorial  of 
Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  an  exposition  of  the  Prophesy 
of  Zechariah  in  Lange's  Commentary,  and  a  considerable 
number  of  articles  in  the  more  important  religious  re- 
views. He  did  still  further  a  great  amount  of  work  as  an 
editor  of  important  commentaries  and  as  a  contributor  to 
the  excellent  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge,  whose 
publication  he  had  first  suggested  and  which  contains  a 
large  number  of  articles  from  his  pen.  Several  times  he 
prepared  and  published  a  series  of  notes  on  the  Inter- 
national Sunday-school  lessons,  and  he  was  one  of  the 
associate  editors  of  the  "  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Re- 
view," as  he  had  been  of  the  earlier  "  Princeton  Review." 

A  man  of  Dr.  Chambers'  literary  culture  and  scholarly 
habits  might  have  been  expected  to  feel  a  deep  interest  in 

34 


the  higher  education.  To  this  he  rendered  congenial  and 
valuable  service  as  a  Trustee  of  Rutgers  College  from 
June,  1868,  and  of  Columbia  College  from  January,  i88r, 
until  his  death.  The  latter  of  these  institutions  conferred 
upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  S.T.D.  in  1853,  and 
the  former  that  of  LL.D.  in  1888.  He  also  became  on 
the  death  of  Dr.  Vermilye  a  member  ex-officto  of  the 
Boards  of  Trustees  of  the  Leake  and  Watts  Orphan  House 
and  the  Presbyterian  Hospital. 

The  part  of  his  work,  however,  outside  of  his  pulpit 
and  pastoral  labors,  in  which  he  took  the  deepest  interest, 
was  that  which  he  performed  as  one  of  the  American 
Company  of  Bible  Revision,  and  which  extended  over  a 
period  of  ten  years.  He  was  the  only  pastor  In  the  Old 
Testament  Company,  and  was  one  of  its  most  faithful 
members.  Another  of  the  Committee*  writes  that  "  He 
was  always  in  his  place,  and  had  made  careful  preparation 
for  the  task  assigned ;  and  there  was  no  one  whose 
maturely  considered  and  carefully  expressed  opinions 
carried  more  weight  than  his."  He  himself  said  in  a  ser- 
mon preached  in  1887,  in  which  he  reviewed  the  previous 
forty  years  of  his  ministry,  that  he  esteemed  this  ap- 
pointment the  highest  earthly  honor  ever  conferred  upon 
him. 

At  a  later  date  he  would  perhaps  have  prized  even 
more  highly  his  connection  with  the  Alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  System.  He  was, 
together  with  Dr.  Schaff,  active  in  its  organization,  be- 
came Chairman  of  the  Western  Section  in  1884,  and  was 
elected  President  of  the  Alliance  in  1892.  It  was  his 
expectation,  if  his  life  had  been  spared,  to  preside  at  its 
sixth  general  council,  to  be  held  in  Glasgow  in  the  month 

*Prof.  Wm.  Henry  Green,  D.D. 

35 


of  June  next,  and  to  deliver  the  President's  address.*  One 
of  his  greatest  pleasures  during  these  later  years  has  been 
that  of  attending  the  meetings  of  the  Alliance,  at  which 
he  frequently  spoke  with  his  accustomed  modesty,  dignity, 
and  force.  Its  work  in  bringing  different  branches  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  into  closer  relations  with  each  other 
appealed  to  his  catholicity  of  spirit,  and  awakened  his 
most  earnest  interest.  It  cannot  but  be  a  source  of  satis- 
faction to  us  who  have  so  long  known  and  honored  him, 
that  his  worth  as  a  man,  a  scholar,  and  a  representative  of 
the  American  Church  had  come  to  be  clearly  recognized 
among  our  brethren  beyond  the  sea. 

Dr.  Chambers  was  very  often  made  a  delegate  from 
the  Dutch  Church  to  other  ecclesiastical  bodies,  and  it 
was  always  felt  that  no  more  fitting  or  trustworthy  repre- 
sentative could  be  chosen.  His  addresses  on  such  occa- 
sions were  always  dignified,  appropriate,  and  sometimes 
peculiarly  felicitous.  It  was  when  performing  a  service 
of  this  kind  at  the  meeting  of  the  General  Assembly  at 
Portland,  Oregon,  in  1892,  that  the  greatest  sorrow  of  his 
life  fell  upon  him  in  the  sudden  death  of  his  wife,  who 
had  gone  out  with  him  in  good  health,  only  to  breathe 
her  last  among  strangers  on  the  further  shore  of  the  con- 
tinent. Neither  the  sympathy  which  was  felt  for  him 
during  his  long  and  lonely  homeward  journey,  nor  the 
fortitude,  meekness,  and  Christian  resignation  with  which 
he  bore  his  great  trial,  can  ever  be  forgotten  by  any  of 
us.  Till  then  his  domestic  life,  apart  from  occasional 
severe  bereavements,  had  been  unusually  happy.  The 
most  entire  confidence,  the  purest  affection,  marked  all 

*  He  was  also  to  have  spoken  at  the  exercises  held  at  Princeton  Seminary  on  the  5th  of  May,  in 
honor  of  his  friend,  Professor  William  Henry  Green,  D.D.,  at  the  close  of  fifty  years  of  service  in 
that  institution. 

36 


I>t0cour0e 

his  intercourse  with  those  of  his  own  household.  But  not 
even  the  love  and  devotion  of  his  children,  which  abounded 
towards  him  to  the  last,  could  fill  the  place  thus  suddenly 
made  vacant  in  his  heart.  And  from  that  time  onward 
his  thoughts  turned  more  and  more  toward  the  home 
above,  till  it  pleased  God  at  length  to  receive  him  into 
its  glory  and  its  peace. 

In  reviewing  his  life  it  is  impossible   not  to  be  sur- 
prised at  the  amount  of  work  which  he  performed,  and  its 
numerous  points  of  contact  with  the  life  of  the  day.     He 
was  not  a  man   of  the  world,  not  a  man  of  affairs.     He 
was  most  at  home  among  his  books,  and  was  often  silent 
and  thoughtful  amidst  the  lively  talk  of  others.      He  was 
pre-eminently  a  student  and  a  scholar.     And  yet  few  men 
were   more  keenly  alive  to   what  was  going  on   in   the 
world  ;  more  ready  to  strike  a  blow  for  the  truth   against 
falsehood  and  error ;  more  eager  to  do  their  part  in  help- 
ing forward  every  good  and  honest  cause.     The  secret  of 
what  he  accomplished  lay  chiefly,  no  doubt,  in  his  patient, 
persistent,  untiring  industry.     But   it  lay  also  in  part  in 
his  rare  power  of  making  every  stroke  tell.     He  wasted 
no  time  or  strength.     He  did  not  fight  as  one  who  beateth 
the  air.     But  whether  with  voice  or  pen  he  uttered  his 
carefully  formed  convictions  in  such  a  way  that  his  mean- 
ing could  never  be  mistaken  and  his  sincerity  never  be 
questioned.     Yet  he  never  courted  publicity  or  cared  for 
praise.      In  public  and  in  private  his  demeanor  was  always 
characterized  by  a  beautiful  modesty,  a  quiet  and  dignified 
reserve.     Absolutely  ingenuous  and  artless  in  his  inter- 
course with  others,  he  could  not  always  be  made  to  see 
that  others  were  not  as  frank  and  straightforward  as  him- 
self.     He  was  utterly  without  suspicion  and  without  guile. 
His  thorough  sincerity  commanded  the  respect  even  of 


37 


Discoursfe 

those  who  smarted  under  the  severity  of  his  words,  or 
were  grieved  by  the  extreme  positions  which  he  felt  him- 
self obliged  to  take.  Yet  gentle  and  courteous  as  his 
manner  habitually  was,  he  sometimes  displayed  a  right- 
eous wrath  against  that  which  appeared  to  him  false  or 
base,  which  no  one  who  witnessed  it  could  readily  forget. 
He  had  indeed  a  fiery  nature.  His  feelings  were  quickly 
stirred  to  vivid  and  vehement  utterance,  and  this,  which 
made  him  powerful  and  sometimes  eloquent  in  public 
speech,  gave  to  his  familiar  conversation,  which  was 
habitually  serious  and  grave,  a  charming  freshness  and 
zest.  His  face  bore  witness  to  his  scholarly  pursuits,  and 
equally  to  his  purity  of  spirit,  his  force  of  will  and  his  ten- 
derness of  heart.  His  eyes  were  sometimes  like  a  flame 
of  fire  and  sometimes  wonderfully  soft  and  loving.  And 
in  all  his  bearing,  force  and  gentleness  were  blended.  He 
once  said  to  a  friend,  in  speaking  of  the  death  of  an 
eminent  theologian  who  was  noted  for  the  severity  of  his 
logic  and  the  sternness  of  his  dogmatic  system,  "It  has 
always  surprised  me  that  a  man  holding  such  views  should 
have  shown  such  sweetness  and  gentleness  of  spirit." 
Concerning  Dr.  Chambers  himself  the  same  thought  has, 
no  doubt,  suggested  itself  to  many  minds.  The  great 
emotions  were  strong  within  him  ;  the  love  of  family,  of 
home,  of  friends  ;  the  love  of  country ;  the  love  of  God  ; 
and  a  passionate  hatred  of  falsehood  and  of  sin.  He 
was  a  deeply  religious,  a  truly  spiritual  man.  He  seemed 
always  to  be  sensible  of  the  nearness  of  God,  the  reality 
and  the  solemnity  of  the  invisible  world.  No  one,  I 
think,  who  has  ever  followed  him  in  prayer  can  have 
failed  to  be  impressed  by  the  revelation  which  he  thus 
unconsciously  made  of  his  own  interior  life.  Simple,  re- 
verent,  humble,   direct,   comprehensive   and   earnest,   his 

38 


2l>iscour0e 

on  w,  h  God.  The  sense  of  his  duty  to  God  seemed 
to  be  always  present  with  him.  He  hved  "  as  ever  in  his 
great  Taskmasters  eye."  And  to  God  he  was  ready 
to  leave  the  results  of  his  work.  It  was  a  striking  trai' 
of  h,s  character  that  when  he  felt  that  he  had  done  hts  best 
the  sense  of  h>s  own  responsibility  seemed  to  be  lifted 
from  h.s  mmd,  and  he  committed  the  fruit  of  his  labors  to 

the"}.-l"  7  "^""  '^'^  ^^'^  ^'"'  ^"°"ght.    His  faith  in 

the  l.fe  to  come  was  never,  so  far  as  I  have  learned   dark- 
ened by  the  faintest  shadow  of  distrust.      And  int'o  that 
We  he  passed  with  the  tranquil  composure  of  one  who 
after  a  long  day  s  work,  calmly  falls  asleep.     He  knew  that 

shVld  k""^-    ."'  ''""'"'  "^''^  ^-'-  'h^^'   '-  children 
should  be  near  him  at  the  end.      But  he  would  have  •■  no 

sadness  of  farewell  "  as  he  left  them.      H  is  last  words  ex- 

pressed  h,s  unwavering  trust  in  the  divine  wisdom  and 

r\       ,      ^^"  ""^  ''"'''"y  P='=^«=<1  away.       It  was  such  a 
death  as  he  would  himself  have  chosen.      It  was  in  keep! 
mg  with  the  whole  spirit  of  his  life.     He  had  fought  the 
good  fight ;  he  had  finished  his  course  ;  he  had  kept  the 
faith.     And  the  words  which  he  wrote,  fifteen  years  ago 
m  regard  to  h.s  former  instructor  and  friend,  Dr.  Charles 
Hodge,  may  with   equal   propriety   be   applied  to  him  : 
His  long  life  bears  witness  to  the  wisdom  of  governing 
ones   course    not   by   the   eddying    currents   of   human 
opinion,  but  by  the  polar  star  of  truth  and  duty  '■ 


39 


jnR.  CHAMBERS  died  of  pneumonia,  after  a  brief 
"^  illness,  at  his  residence.  No.  70  West  Thirty-sixth 
Street,  on  Monday,  February^  3rd,  1896. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  at  ten  o'clock  on  Friday 
morning,  February  7th,  in  the  church  at  Forty-eighth 
Street  and  Fifth  Avenue.  The  Ministers  and  Assistant 
Ministers,  together  with  the  Consistory  and  the  Great 
Consistory,  attended  as  mourners.  The  exercises  were 
conducted  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Roderick  Terry,  who  presided 
and  offered  prayer  ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morgan  Dix,  who  read 
the  Scriptures  ;  and  the  Rev.  Drs.  John  Hall  and  David 
D.  Demarest,  who  delivered  brief  and  sympathetic 
addresses.  The  general  esteem  in  which  Dr.  Chambers 
was  held  was  shown  by  the  presence  of  a  very  large  con- 
gregation, including  representatives  of  the  various  Boards 
and  Institutions  with  which  he  had  been  associated.  The 
action  taken  by  several  of  these  organizations  in  view  of 
his  death,  together  with  other  tributes  to  his  memory,  will 
be  found  in  the  following  pages. 

The  interment  was  made  at  Somerville,  N.  J. 


41 


appcntJtV 


Cl^e  sfuneral  ^crbice 

aDDre00  of  tl)e  Keb.  31ol)n  l^all,  D.SD.,  ilil.SD. 

My  Dear  Friends: 

3  FEEL  that  I  have  need  to  beware  lest  the  strong  affection  that  I  have  for 
my  brother  whose  service  has  closed  here  on  earth,  should  lead  me  to 
thoughts  and  expressions  of  eulogy  vi^hich,  if  it  were  possible  to  consult 
him,  he  would  disapprove.  I  shall  try  to  speak  a  few  words  concerning  that 
which  the  grace  of  God  wrought  in  our  brother,  and  for  which  you  and  I,  in 
common  with  him,  desire  to  give  the  glory  to  God  Almighty. 

It  pleased  the  Creator  to  give  him  a  sound  mind,  a  clear  understanding  ;  and 
that  sound  mind  was  consecrated  to  God  Almighty,  one  result  of  which  was 
that  he  was  a  wise  counsellor,  a  prudent  adviser,  in  the  various  forms  of  Chris- 
tian labor  and  organized  effort  with  which,  in  God's  Providence,  he  was  con- 
nected. There  are  many  of  you  who  can  bear  testimony  to  the  truth  of  this 
statement,  and  there  are  some  of  us,  I  am  sure,  who  will  miss  in  the  time  to 
come  the  counsel  and  the  intelligent  co-operation  that  he  was  able  to  give. 

As  many  of  you  know,  he  entered  the  ministry  at  a  very  early  period — in  his 
twentieth  year,  having  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  good  home  life,  of  early  re- 
ligious mstruction,  and  of  adequate  training  for  the  work  of  the  ministry.  The 
position  of  a  minister  implies  devout  bearing,  consistent  living,  and  unselfish 
effort  for  others  ;  and  I  need  not  tell  you  that  these  things  have  been  exhibited 
in  the  long  ministerial  life  which  it  pleased  God  to  give  him. 

He  was  the  head  of  a  family,  a  large  family,  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  home 
was  sweet  and  pure  ;  and  I  do  not  need  to  remind  those  who  are  mourning  here 
of  the  blessings  they  owe  to  God,  and  to  him  in  the  happiness  of  life  they  en- 
joyed in  the  home.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  standing  by,  some  time  ago,  when  the 
fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  marriage  was  being  recalled,  and  I  recollect  the  pro- 
found impression  made  on  my  own  mind  that  godliness  is  profitable  unto  all 
things,  both  for  this  life  and  for  that  which  is  to  come.  It  was  not  long  after 
this  anniversary  that  the  partner  of  his  life  was  taken  home.  Is  there  not  com- 
fort in  the  thought  that  there  is  perfect  felicity  and  no  separation  in  all  the 
time  to  come  ? 

It  pleased  God  in  His  goodness  and  mercy  to  give  to  our  brother  very  distinct 
convictions  as  to  what  Christian  life  is,  as  to  what  Christian  organizations  ought 

42 


0ppcnDip 

to  be,  and  as  to  what  the  developments  ought  to  be  of  true  Christian  growth. 
On  these  grounds  he  had  definite  convictions.  But  these  convictions  never 
stood  in  the  way  of  his  co-operating  with  Christian  brethren  who  held  the 
essentials  of  faith.  There  are  many  of  us  who  know  what  services  he  was  able 
to  give  in  the  cause  of  Christian  union.  Let  us  seek,  dear  friends,  to  be  his 
imitators  in  this  regard.  Let  us  be  able  to  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in 
us,  but  at  the  same  time  let  us  be  prepared  to  stand  side  by  side  with  those 
who  love  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  who  are  laboring  to  bring  our  fellow-men 
to  a  saving  knowledge  of  our  Redeemer. 

In  addition  to  the  work  of  a  pastor  and  the  various  forms  of  Christian  labor 
in  which  he  was  engaged,  our  brother  prosecuted  a  careful  Bible  study,  and  his 
researches  in  that  direction  were  utilized,  as  you  know,  in  many  forms  of  labor. 
In  consequence  of  that  careful  study  of  God's  Holy  Word,  he  was  able  to  have 
distinct  views  as  various  questions  of  scholarship  were  presented,  and  on  occa- 
sion he  did  not  hesitate  to  give  expression  to  those  views.  For  eight  and 
twenty  years  I  had  the  privilege  of  being  associated  with  him,  and  I  am  bound 
to  say  in  all  those  years  I  never  heard  a  word  from  his  lips  that  did  not  approve 
itself  to  my  conscience  and  my  understanding.  You  can  comprehend  that  I, 
for  one,  feel  that  we  have  suffered  a  loss.  But  it  is  the  will  of  our  loving  God, 
and  His  will  be  done. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  look  back  upon  the  past  without  a  certain  feeling 
of  sadness  as  I  think  of  the  number  of  saintly  men  to  whom  I  was  accustomed 
to  look  up  in  the  early  years  of  my  residence  in  this  city,  and  who  have  been 
taken  to  the  rest  above.  I  cannot  but  think  of  such  godly  men  as  Drs.  Spring, 
DeWitt,  Vermilye,  Adams,  John  Cotton  Smith,  Washburn,  Rogers,  and  later, 
my  friend  and  brother.  Dr.  Crosby,  all  of  whom  have  gone  now  unto  that  gen- 
eral assembly  above ;  but  their  memories  remain  with  us,  and  they  are  a  stim- 
ulus to  Christian  activity,  to  close  walking  with  God,  and,  I  think,  may,  in  their 
very  existence  in  our  minds,  help  us  to  set  our  affections  on  things  above,  where 
Christ  sitteth. 

It  pleased  our  heavenly  Father  to  take  our  brother  out  of  this  life  compara- 
tively suddenly.  Is  there  not  a  lesson  there  to  you  and  me  ?  I  am  looking 
upon  men  whose  faces  indicate  that  they  have  been  spared  through  many  years. 
Dear  brethren,  let  us  hear  God  say  to  us,  "  Be  ye  also  ready,  for  in  such  an  hour 
as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of  man  cometh," — cometh  by  God's  messenger,  death, 
to  summon  us  from  this  lower  world  into  His  presence  above.  Let  us  seek  to 
be  spiritually  minded,  which  is  life  and  peace  ;  let  us  seek  to  do  justly,  to  love 
mercy  and  to  walk  humbly  with  our  God.  Let  us  seek  to  do  what  our  hands 
find  to  do  with  our  might,  for  the  time  of  working  here  will  soon  come  to  a  close, 
and  it  may  come  suddenly  and  abruptly.  Let  us  so  love  and  trust  that  gracious 
Redeemer  whose  name  we  are  called  to  bear  (for  we  have  professed  faith  in 
Him,)  that  we  may  rejoice  in  the  hope  of  the  glory  above  ;  rejoice  in  the  pros- 
pect of  restored  fellowship  with  the  saints  who  have  been  dear  to  us  here  ;  re- 
joice especially  in  the  prospect  of  seeing  the  King  in  His  beauty  and  dwelling 

43 


with  Him  forever.  Our  brother  sought  continually  to  dwell  in  the  light  that 
comes  from  above.  And  now  he  is  in  that  light.  And  who  can  tell  the  felicity 
that  is  brought  to  his  perfected  spirit  ?  Let  us  seek  to  live  under  the  power  of 
the  world  to  come,  and  so  we  shall  have  a  benediction  in  this  present  world. 
We  shall  be,  as  he  was,  living  epistles  of  Christ,  known  and  read  of  all  men. 
May  God  impress  these  truths  upon  the  heart  of  each  of  us  gathered  together 
here  in  loving  memory  of  our  brother,  and  may  God  make  such  truths  and  such 
recollections  the  means  of  comfort  and  spiritual  strength  to  those  who  immedi- 
ately feel  the  separation  from  one  who  was  at  once  a  Christian,  a  father,  and  a 
tender  friend. 

0DDres;g  of  t\)t  Uctj.  sd,se>,  SDemaresft,  sd.sDm  iiiL.SD, 

Cf^y  personal  acquaintance  with  Dr.  Chambers  began  fifty-three  years  ago, 
*?^  when  he  was  pastor  of  the  Second  Dutch  Church  of  Somerville, 
and  I  took  charge  of  the  newly  organized  Second  Dutch  Church  of  New 
Brunswick.  During  six  years  we  labored  together  in  the  Classis  of  New 
Brunswick ;  we  saw  much  of  each  other,  and  have  since  been  closely  associated 
in  work  for  the  general  interests  of  our  denomination  and  its  institutions.  The 
years  have  not  diminished  our  mutual  confidence,  esteem  and  affection.  I 
gratefully  to-day  pay  my  tribute  to  his  worth,  though  I  mourn  the  occasion  that 
calls  for  it. 

For  the  mental  characteristics  and  habits  of  Dr.  Chambers,  so  well-known 
to  you  all,  he  was  greatly  indebted  to  his  conscientious  attention  to  the  duties  of 
early  life.  He  entered  Rutgers  College  a  mere  lad,  for  he  was  graduated  not 
long  after  he  had  completed  his  fifteenth  year.  He  was  sent  to  New  Brunswick 
chiefly  because  Prof.  Alexander  McClelland,  who  had  left  Dickinson  College  at 
Carlisle,  had  become  Professor  of  Languages  in  Rutgers.  He  was  a  favorite 
pupil  of  this  inimitable  teacher,  obligation  to  whom  he  was  always  ready  thank- 
fully to  acknowledge,  as  I  and  many  others  also  are.  Never  was  there  a  teacher 
superior  to  this  eminent  professor  in  the  art  of  stimulating  the  minds  of  his 
pupils,  in  securing  thoroughness  of  work  and  accuracy  of  expression. 

He  was  thus  trained  to  insight  into  subjects,  power  of  discrimination,  posi- 
tiveness  of  conviction,  accuracy  and  facility  of  expression,  for  all  of  which  he 
was  remarkable.  He  learned  to  find  the  right  word  and  to  put  it  in  its  proper 
place,  to  shun  involved  and  complicated  sentences,  in  short  to  form  a  style  that 
was  perspicuous,  direct  and  forcible,  which  conveyed  his  meaning  unmistakably, 
and  from  which  he  allowed  no  one  to  be  diverted  by  unnecessary  adornments  or 
rhetorical  trickeries. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  intended  to  enter  its 
ministry,  but  as  Dr.  McClelland  had  been  made  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature 
in  the  Theological  School  in  New  Brunswick,  he  spent  one  year  in  it  for  the 
purpose  of  learning  the  elements  of  Hebrew  from  his  favorite  professor.  He 
then  spent  a  year  in   Princeton   Seminary  and   some  time  in  teaching  in  the 

44 


South,  where  he  was  licensed  to  preach.  In  1840,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he 
was  ordained  and  installed  by  the  Classis  of  New  Brunswick  pastor  of  the 
Second  Dutch  Church  of  Somerville,  where  he  remained  until  1849,  when  he 
was  called  to  the  Collegiate  Dutch  Church,  in  connection  with  which  he  re- 
mained to  the  day  of  his  death. 

Dr.  Chambers  did  not  on  entering  the  pastoral  office  assume,  as  some  young 
ministers  unhappily  do,  that  calls  on  the  pastor  for  various  services  are  so  nu- 
merous that  study  can  only  be  very  irregularly  pursued,  or  entirely  abandoned. 
He  deemed  study,  especially  of  the  Word  of  God,  essential  for  the  preacher  and 
no  hindrance  to  the  pastor.  He  immediately  chose  the  prophecy  of  Zechariah 
for  special  study,  and  he  enriched  his  pulpit  ministrations  by  his  popular  exposi- 
tions of  the  book.  This  sort  of  study  he  continued  through  life,  and  so  his 
sermons  were  characterized  by  the  presentation  of  Biblical  truths  in  Biblical 
connections. 

He  pursued  study  not  for  his  own  pleasure  or  the  benefit  of  his  people  only, 
but  he  gave  liberally  to  the  world.  His  was  the  pen  of  a  ready  writer.  His 
capacity  for  work  was  extraordinary,  and  so  was  his  diligence.  The  religious 
weekHes  abounded  in  papers  from  him,  usually  short  and  pithy,  and  largely 
practical ;  the  reviews  contained  able  contributions  from  him,  and  occasionally 
he  sent  forth  a  book  which  was  accepted  as  a  valuable  contribution  to  the  litera- 
ture of  the  subject  of  which  it  treated.  He  frequently  filled  vacant  professor- 
ships in  theological  seminaries  temporarily,  or  came  to  the  aid  of  a  disabled 
professor.  He  might  at  any  time  have  been  placed  in  a  professorial  chair  had 
he  felt  free  to  accept  one. 

Dr.  Chambers  was  an  intense  lover  of  his  own  denomination  and  second  to 
no  one  in  loyalty  to  her  doctrines,  polity,  customs  and  usages.  His  first  work 
as  a  minister  was  in  a  field  in  which  Frelinghuysen,  a  kindred  spirit  with  Whit- 
field and  the  Tennents,  had  broken  up  the  fallow  ground.  He  became  greatly 
interested  in  traditions  of  the  work  done  by  the  godly  Dutch  ministers  in  the 
valley  of  the  Raritan.  Then  he  came  to  New  York  to  our  oldest  church  in  the 
land  and  he  loved  to  dig  in  the  mines  of  what  we  call  our  ancient  church  his- 
tory, and  the  more  that  he  discovered  the  stronger  became  his  attachment. 
And  so  his  heart  was  in  all  our  denominational  institutions  of  the  day.  The 
Trustees  of  Rutgers  College,  of  whom  he  has  been  one  for  twenty-eight  years, 
will  greatly  miss  him  who  was  so  constant  in  attendance,  wise  in  counsel,  and 
ready  for  service.  The  Theological  Seminary  thankfully  acknowledges  his  ser- 
vices to  it,  rendered  in  various  forms.  The  Boards  of  the  Church,  especially 
that  of  Foreign  Missions,  of  which  he  was  the  President,  will  greatly 
miss  him. 

Much  as  he  loved  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church,  he  yielded  to  no  one  in  his 
readiness  to  co-operate  with  Christians  of  every  name  in  efforts  for  the  advance- 
ment of  Christ's  kingdom  in  the  world.  He  belonged  to  many  organizations, 
religious,  philanthropic,  literary.  Time  forbids  me  even  to  attempt  to  enumerate 
them. 

45 


He  has  finished  his  work  in  the  world,  and  done  it  well.  The  veterans  fall 
and  the  leaders  are  removed,  but  the  battle  goes  on.  Our  brother  fell  in  the 
thick  of  the  conflict.  Rest  came  quickly  after  work,  with  no  protracted  interval 
of  pain  or  distressing  failure  of  body  or  mind. 

Farewell,  dear  brother,  may  we  be  faithful  unto  death,  as  thou  hast  been 
and  then  meet  thee  in  the  home  above  ! 


Prior  to  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Chambers,  a  memorial  meet- 
ing, attended  by  upwards  of  one  hundred  clergymen,  was 
held  in  the  Chapel  of  the  Forty-eighth  Street  Church. 
Representatives  of  twelve  institutions  and  organizations, 
of  which  he  was  a  leading  spirit,  were  recognized.  The 
Classis  of  New  York  was  present  as  a  body,  an  official 
call  having  been  issued  to  its  members. 

Dr.  Jacob  Chamberlain,  of  India,  was  chosen  Chairman. 
Brief  remarks,  expressive  of  the  respect  in  which  Dr. 
Chambers  was  held,  and  of  sorrow  at  his  death,  were 
made  by  the  Chairman  ;  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  David  Waters, 
representing  the  Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches  ;  by 
Professor  Cooper,  of  Rutgers  College,  and  Professor 
Searle,  of  the  Seminary  at  New  Brunswick  ;  by  Dr.  Cole, 
of  Yonkers  ;  Dr.  Todd,  of  Tarrytown  ;  Dr.  Hunt,  of  the 
Bible  Society ;  Dr.  Rand,  of  the  Tract  Society  ;  and  Dr. 
Hutton,  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

The  following  Minute  was  offered  by  the  Rev.  Joseph 
R.  Duryee,  D.D.,  and  adopted  by  a  rising  vote  : 

Minute 

?r2tJ^'  '^'^  associates  in  the  ministry  of  the  Church  of  God,  desire  to  record 
^^'^^  our  appreciation  of  the  long  and  useful  life  of  the  Rev.  Talbot 
Wilson  Chambers,  S.T.D.,  since  1849  a  pastor  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed 
(Dutch)  Church  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Strong  and  consistent  in  spirit,  wise 
and  logical  in  counsel,  loyal  and  sympathetic  in  friendship,  he  has  been  to  the 
very  end  of  his  earthly  career  a  revered  and  successful  leader  in  the  religious  and 

46 


intellectual  life  of  our  time.  By  inheritance  and  from  choice  he  was  a  student, 
yet  ever  wore  his  scholar's  crown  with  humility.  He  studied  in  many  languages 
the  wisdom  of  the  ages,  only  to  realize  more  completely  that  the  foundation  of 
truth  is  the  revelation  of  God  in  Christ.  Honors  of  the  highest  distinction  were 
conferred  upon  him,  and  these  he  valued  deeply,  but  his  one  aim  was  to  adorn 
the  doctrine  of  God,  our  Saviour,  in  all  things.  While  his  vast  learning  made 
him  an  authority  in  the  Republic  of  Letters,  his  heart  was  with  the  people.  He 
mingled  with  true  men  in  every  walk  of  life,  rejoicing  with  them  in  their  suc- 
cesses, feeling  for  them  in  their  sorrows,  and  ever  longing  to  lead  them  to  know 
and  obey  the  Master  he  loved  and  served.  His  industry  was  untiring,  and  every 
work  he  undertook  was  carried  out  completely.  Faithfulness  in  all  things  was 
the  characteristic  of  his  life.  Thus  have  we  been  privileged  to  note  the  career 
and  enjoy  the  fellowship  of  Dr.  Chambers.  His  loyalty  to  the  truth,  his  enthu- 
siasm in  the  study  and  exposition  of  tBe  Divine  Word,  his  inspiring  friendship, 
all  interpret  to  us  the  kindness  of  God. 

While  we  sorrow  in  the  thought  that  we  shall  see  him  here  no  more,  we  re- 
joice that  he  was  permitted  to  accomplish  so  much,  and  then  end  his  days  in 
a  home  of  peace,  without  long  struggle  or  the  impairment  of  any  faculty,  and 
thus  enter  into  eternal  rest  and  his  inheritance  of  "  the  power  of  an  endless  life." 

Ci^e  Collcjjiate  Cl^urc]^ 

(Ertrart  from  t^e  £0inuttg 

The  Minister,  Elders  and  Deacons  of  the  Reformed 
Protestant  Dutch  Church  of  the  City  of  New 
York, 

In  Consistory,  February  4,  1896. 
HE  President  announced  the  death  of  Rev.Talbot  W. 
Chambers, D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  Senior  Minister  of  this 
Church,  last  night,  shortly  before  midnight ; 
Whereupon  it  was 

Resolved,  that  Rev.  Drs.  Coe  and  Burrell  be,  and  they  are  hereby,  appointed  a 
Committee  to  prepare  a  suitable  minute  in  his  memory. 

Resolved,  that  such  minute  be  read  from  the  pulpits  of  our  Churches  and  Chapels 
at  the  morning  service  next  Sunday,  the  9th  inst.;  that  it  be  placed  upon  the 
records  of  Consistory,  and  be  published  in  "The  Christian  Intelligencer;" 
and  that  a  copy  thereof  be  presented  to  the  family  of  the  deceased  by  our 
Ministers. 

Resolved,  that  a  Committee  of  six,  consisting  of  three  Elders  and  three  Deacons, 

47 


c 


0ppenDtp 

be  appointed  to  make  all  proper  arrangements  for  the  funeral,  and  that  they 

consult  with  the  family  of  the  deceased  and  fully  carry  out  their  wishes  as 

to  the  details  and  order  of  the  funeral. 
Resolved,  that  this  Consistory  attend  the  funeral  services  as  mourners  and  wear 

the  usual  badge  of  mourning. 
Resolved,  that  the  Great  Consistory  be  requested  to  meet  in  the  Consistory  Room 

in  the  Church,  corner  of  Fifth  Avenue  and  Forty-eighth  Street,  on  the  day 

of  the  funeral,  7th  inst.,  at  9.30  A.  M.,  and  attend  the  funeral  services  in  a 

body. 
Resolved,   that   the   Church   Masters   drape  the  pulpits  of   our  Churches  and 

Chapels  in  mourning,  having  due  regard  to  the  expressed  views  of  Dr. 

Chambers. 
Resolved,  that  the  expenses  of  Dr.  Chambers'  funeral  be  borne  by  Consistory, 

and  that  the  Treasurer  pay  the  same  upon  the  order  of  the  Chairman  of  the 

Committee  of  Arrangements. 

******** 

Resolved,  that  Rev.  Dr.  Coe  be  requested  to  deliver  a  memorial  discourse  at  such 

time  and  place  as  the  above  Committee  of  Arrangements  shall  determine 

after  consultation  with  our  Ministers. 
Resolved,  that  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  be  presented  to  the  family  of 

the  deceased. 

The   President   appointed  as   the   Committee   Elders :   Messrs.   Johnston, 
Bookstaver,  Perlee  ;  Deacons  :  Messrs.  Brower,  Runk,  Walker. 


In  Consistory,  February  6,  1896. 
The    Committee    appointed    to   prepare    a   minute   in 
memory    of     Dr.     Chambers    reported     the    following, 
which  was    accepted    and    adopted    and    ordered    to    be 
entered  upon  the  records  of  Consistory  : 

4tOR  the  second  time  within  three  years  the  Collegiate  Church  is  called  to 
J'  mourn  the  loss  of  its  Senior  Minister.  The  sudden  death,  on  Monday 
last,  of  the  Rev.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  S.T.D.,  LL.D.,  is  a  personal  be- 
reavement to  each  member  of  this  Consistory  and  to  many  members  of  the 
Church.  He  had  just  entered  upon  his  forty-seventh  year  of  active  ser\'ice  in 
its  ministry.  Through  this  long  period  he  was  in  the  highest  degree  loyal  to  it 
and  the  value  of  his  labors  in  its  different  pulpits  and  in  the  conduct  of  its  affairs 
can  hardly  be  estimated.  He  was  at  the  same  time  one  of  the  most  prominent 
and  influential  members  of  the  Reformed  Church,  closely  identified  with  its 

48 


2ipptvMv 

histor>'  during  the  last  half-century,  always  true  to  its  system  of  doctrine,  earnest 
in  the  effort  to  advance  its  interests,  and  worthily  representing  it  on  public  occa- 
sions both  at  home  and  abroad.  Its  foreign  missionary  work  especially  owes 
much  to  his  wisdom,  zeal,  and  liberality.  He  was  an  honored  and  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Boards  of  Trustees  of  Columbia  and  Rutgers  Colleges  and  of  the  Leake 
and  Watts'  Orphan  House,  and  served  with  great  fidelity  in  the  direction  of 
other  forms  of  philanthropic  and  religious  effort.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he 
held  the  highly  honorable  position  of  President  of  the  Executive  Commission  of 
the  Alliance  of  Reformed  Churches,  in  whose  work  he  had  from  the  beginning 
taken  a  deep  interest.  His  attainments  and  authority  as  a  biblical  and  classical 
scholar  were  widely  recognized,  and  the  clearness  and  vigor  of  his  thought  and 
style  made  him  a  powerful  writer  on  theological  subjects.  His  personal  charac- 
ter was  always  without  reproach,  and  the  sincerity  and  strength  of  his  Christian 
faith  were  evident  to  all  who  knew  him. 

We  feel  that  such  a  man  could  ill  be  spared,  and  we  are  grateful  to  the 
kind  Providence  which  continued  him  in  unimpaired  vigor  of  body  and  mind 
even  to  the  end,  and  then  transferred  him  so  swiftly  and  painlessly  to  a  higher 
sphere.  We  would  express  to  his  bereaved  family  a  sympathy  of  which  we  be- 
lieve they  can  need  no  assurance,  while  we  rejoice  with  them  in  the  finished 
record  of  his  honorable  and  useful  life,  and  in  the  memory  of  his  inspiring 
example. 

From  the  Minutes.  C.  S.  Phillips, 

Clerk. 


OF   SOMERVILLE,    NEW   JERSEY 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Consistory  of  the  Second  Reformed 
Church  of  Somerville,  N.  J.,  held  February  5th,  the  fol- 
lowing Minute  was  adopted  : 

J^JJJE  have  learned  with  sorrow  and  regret  of  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Talbot 
W.  Chambers,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  the  distinguished  pastor  of  the  Collegiate 
Reformed  Church,  New  York  City,  and  formerly  the  beloved  and  useful  pastor 
of  this  church,  which  he  served  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  from  1839  to  1849.  A 
few  of  our  congregation  still  surviving  remember  his  acceptable  labors  in  the 
infancy  of  this  church— labors  which  laid  broad  and  deep  the  foundations  of  its 
present  prosperity.  We  all  have  greatly  enjoyed  his  occasional  sermons  and 
addresses  that  we  have  been  privileged  to  hear  in  our  church  from  time  to  time, 
and  we  gratefully  remember  his  presence  with  us  in  December,  1894,  at  the 

49 


dedication  of  our  new  edifice,  and  the  luminous  and  impressive  address  he  then 
delivered. 

We  deplore  the  loss  that  our  denomination  not  only,  but  the  Christian 
Church  in  all  its  branches,  has  sustained  by  the  death  of  this  eminent  scholar 
and  preacher. 

We  tenderly  sympathize  with  his  bereaved  congregation  and  his  still  more 
deeply  bereaved  and  sorrowing  family ;  and  to  the  latter  we  extend  our  kindest 
expressions  of  condolence. 

We  direct  the  Clerk  of  Consistory  to  publish  this  minute  in  the  local  news- 
papers and  "  The  Christian  Intelligencer,"  and  to  send  a  copy  to  the  family  of 
the  deceased. 


Cl^e  €lam^  of  0m  gorfe 

ADOPTED   AT   A   SPECIAL   MEETING   HELD   MARCH    II,    1 896 

^'TfYlTH  true  and  tender  grief  and  a  profound  sense  of  loss  the  Classis  of 
^^"^^  New  York  bows  to  the  Providence  which  has  taken  from  us  the  Rev. 
Talbot  W.  Chambers,  S.T.D.,  LL.D. 

Through  the  impressive  period  of  forty-six  continuous  years  he  has  been  so 
regularly  at  its  meetings,  stated  and  special,  so  prominent  in  their  transactions, 
that  these  seemed  scarcely  fully  constituted  without  his  presence.  When  his 
labors,  their  number  and  variety,  their  absorbing  and  exacting  and  fascinating 
character,  are  considered,  his  rare  failure  to  respond  to  the  call  of  his  name  in 
these  gatherings  is  convincing  proof  of  his  high  estimation  of  their  importance 
and  of  his  faithfulness  to  the  obligations  they  imposed. 

His  eager  interest  in  every  item  of  the  business  considered,  his  patient  and 
thorough  weighing  of  every  proposition  submitted,  his  tireless  efforts  to  reach 
only  right  conclusions,  could  not  have  been  greater  had  the  responsibility  of 
every  decision  reached  rested  wholly  upon  himself.  Such  consecration  to  the 
work  of  Classis,  accompanied  by  the  qualifications  for  service  which  lay  in  his 
familiar  knowledge  of  our  fundamental  law  and  established  rules  of  order,  in 
his  long  and  varied  ecclesiastical  experience,  in  his  logical  faculty,  his  ripe  judg- 
ment, his  intense  love  for  his  Church,  its  institutions  and  enterprises,  so  that  he 
counted  nothing  foreign  to  himself  which  related  to  her,  inevitably  would  raise 
him  to  the  eminence  of  usefulness,  authority  and  honor  which  we  all  know  he 
occupied. 

If  in  discussion,  through  quickness  of  perception  and  strength  of  conviction, 
his  manner  was  somewhat  imperious,  his  spirit  was  ever  considerate,  just  and 
essentially  winning.  No  one  was  more  approachable  ;  no  one  more  apprecia- 
tive of  or  readier  to  acknowledge  the  merits  of  an  opponent's  views.  And  a 
prevailing  judgment  which  disappointed  and  even  grieved  him  revealed  such 

50 


0ppenDiv 

Christian  nobleness  of  nature  that  the  memory  of  its  manifestations  in  those 
who  witnessed  them  will  ever  make  the  mention  of  his  name  a  heart-softening 
influence. 

As  its  representative  in  the  higher  ecclesiastical  bodies  and  Boards  of  the 
Church,  Dr.  Chambers  held  the  perfect  confidence  of  Classis,  All  knew  that 
whatever  devotion  to  duty  and  pre-eminent  ability  could  accomplish  for  the  de- 
fence or  advancement  of  local  or  general  Church  interests  would  be  secured  by 
him.  And  so  his  efforts  were  very  influential  in  effecting,  as  his  name  is  indis- 
solubly  associated  with,  the  wisest  and  most  important  Synodical  legislation  oc- 
curring during  his  wellnigh  half-century  connection  with  this  Classis.  And  the 
glory  of  the  representative  was  shared  by  and  abides  with  those  he  repre- 
sented. 

Accepting  gracefully  and  seconding, fervently  all  the  glowing  eulogies  which 
have  issued  from  so  many  paramount  sources  upon  his  distinguished  and  com- 
manding scholarship,  authorship,  leadership  in  religious,  evangelizing,  charitable, 
educational  movements,  this  tribute  contemplates  Dr.  Chambers  in  his  relation 
to  the  Classis  of  New  York,  and  as  the  voice  of  his  most  intimate  ministerial 
associates  declares  their  feeling  that,  in  devotion  to  duty  and  ability  for  its  dis- 
charge, in  dignity  of  character  and  weight  of  influence,  in  consideration  for  his 
brethren  in  all  Christian  helpfulness  and  affection,  and  as  their  example  in  that 
inspiring  excellence  of  which  controlling  piety  was  ever  the  crown,  he  will  live 
in  our  thoughts  and  hearts  as  an  ideal  "  man  of  God,"  whose  superior  it  were 
vain  to  search  for  in  the  ranks  of  the  living  or  the  records  of  the  dead. 

The  painful  consciousness  of  our  loss  kindles  tenderest  sympathy  with  his 
sorely  bereaved  family,  to  whom,  with  a  copy  of  this  minute,  Classis  proffers 
sincerest  condolence,  and  pledges  its  prayers  to  the  Father  of  all  mercies  and 
the  God  of  all  comfort  in  their  behalf.  It  also  orders  that  this  tribute  be  pub- 
lished in  "  The  Christian  Intelligencer." 

(Signed)         Joachim  Elmendorf, 
A.  G.  Vermilye. 
Roderick  Terry. 


€]^e  QBoarn  of  foreign  QpijS)2iionjS  of  tl)e  BeformcD 
Ci^urcl)  in  America 

SBinutt 

adopted     FEBRUARY     7,    1896 

i|ir  HE  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  R.  C.  A.,  desires  to  put  on  record  its  deep 
^*^  sense  of  loss  in  being  parted  from  its  late  President,  the  Rev.  Talbot 
W.  Chambers,  S.T.D.  For  twenty-two  successive  years  he  has  been  a 
member  of  this  body,  and  for  the  last  eight  years  he  has  been  its  presiding 

51 


0ppent)tp 

officer.  During  all  this  unusual  length  of  service  no  one  connected  with  the 
Board  has  excelled  him  in  devotion  to  the  interests  which  it  supervises.  Of  his 
conspicuous  scholarship,  of  his  contributions  to  sacred  literature,  of  his  wide- 
spread relations  to  many  important  religious  and  educational  organizations,  all 
of  which  made  him  an  ornament  of  the  Church,  others  will  speak.  But  this 
Board  most  affectionately  testifies  to  his  personal  liberality  to  missions,  and  to 
the  warmth  of  his  prayers  on  its  behalf.  His  interest  was  unflagging,  and  ex- 
tended personally  to  every  missionary  under  our  care,  and  to  the  faithful 
Secretaries  of  the  Board,  for  each  of  whom  he  was  most  considerate.  As  the 
President  of  the  Board  his  courtesy  was  unfailing,  and  his  acute  intelligence 
was  always  wholly  at  its  service. 

For  his  own  sake  we  rejoice  with  him  that  he  has  entered  on  his  full  reward. 
But  for  our  own  part  we  shall  long  look  back  with  tender  regret  at  the  days 
while  he  was  yet  with  us.  Thanking  God  upon  e\-ery  remembrance  of  him,  we 
bow  to  the  decree  of  our  Father  in  Heaven,  and  can  only  say,  "  God's  will  be 
done." 

In  further  expression  of  our  feelings,  it  is  hereby  ordered  that  this  minute 
be  entered  on  our  records,  and  that  copies  thereof  be  sent  to  Dr.  Chambers' 
family,  to  the  Consistory  of  the  Collegiate  Church,  and  to  the  papers  of  the 
denomination. 


Eutgerjs  College 

Minute 

ADOPTED    BY  THE   BOARD   OF  TRUSTEES,   MARCH    3,    1 896 

/flp  HE  Board  of  Trustees  of  Rutgers  College  would  put  on  record  its  sense  of 
^^  loss  in  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  S.T.D.,  LL.D. 
For  nearly  thirty  years  Dr.  Chambers  was  a  member  of  this  Board,  hav- 
ing been  elected  June  17th,  1868.  As  in  every  responsibility  he  assumed,  so  in 
this  he  was  conscientiously  faithful,  most  regular  in  attendance  on  the  meetings 
of  the  Board,  eminently  wise  in  counsel  and  efficient  in  action.  A  scholar  at 
once  profound  and  versatile,  he  sought  to  have  the  College  an  exponent  of  the 
best  scholarship  of  the  day ;  a  Christian  in  the  truest  sense  of  the  term,  he 
wished  the  College  to  be  unmistakably  and  thoroughly  a  Christian  institution  ; 
a  loyal  minister  of  the  Reformed  Church,  and  pastor  in  the  oldest  and  strongest 
organization  of  that  body,  he  sought  to  have  the  College  representative  of  what 
is  best  in  its  history  and  traditions,  and  in  securing  these  ends  he  was  wise, 
zealous  and  self-sacrificing.  Himself  a  graduate,  he  had  the  affection  of  a  son 
for  his  alma  mater,  to  which  he  contributed  not  a  little  through  his  wide  repu- 
tation, his   powerful   personal   and  official  influence,  beside  the  gifts  of  time, 

52 


money  and  effort  he  was  ever  making  in  her  behalf.  Age  brought  to  him  no 
abatement  of  his  powers  or  activity,  and  his  ceasing  from  labor  was  followed 
closely  by  his  entrance  into  rest.  We,  on  whom  devolve  greater  burdens 
because  of  his  going  home,  gratefully  attest  how  faithfully,  conscientiously  and 
efficiently  he  ever  sought  the  best  interests  of  the  College,  and  enter  on  our 
minutes  this  tribute  of  affectionate  appreciation. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  sent  to  the  family  of  the  deceased,  and 
be  published  in  "  The  Christian  Intelligencer." 

(Signed)      John  B.  Drury, 

Paul  D.  Van  Cleef, 
Henry  W,  Bookstaver, 

Committee. 


Eutgctji  College 

ADOPTED  BY  THE  FACULTY,  FEBRUARY  ID,  1 896 

^R.  TALBOT  W.  CHAMBERS,  a  Graduate  and  Trustee  of  this  College, 
having  been  called  to  the  service  of  his  Master  on  high,  we,  the   Faculty', 
desire  to  express  our  appreciation  of  his   life-work,  and  our  regard  for  him' 
personally. 

Dr.  Chambers  has  occupied  the  widest  sphere  in  the  life  of  this  College  that 
it  is  possible  for  any  man  to  hold.  He  graduated  with  marked  distinction  at  a 
very  early  age,  and  continued  till  his  death  to  cherish  every  interest  dear  to  its 
intellectual  and  material  prosperity.  Occupying  the  most  honored  positions  in 
the  Church  of  Christ  universal,  and  in  the  field  of  letters,  amid  the  innumerable 
cares  which  thereby  fell  to  him,  he  yet  gave  of  his  time  and  means  without  stint 
to  the  welfare  of  this  College.  He  was  its  wise  counsellor  and  devoted  friend 
n  every  way  that  was  possible  for  a  clear-headed,  energetic,  and  unselfish  serv- 
ant of  its  interests.  Those  of  us  who  knew  him  intimately  loved  him  with 
unutterable  affection,  and  now  feel  that  a  gap  has  been  made  in  our  lives  which 
can  never  be  filled.  As  his  presence  departs  from  us,  we  desire  to  take  up  the 
words  of  the  Divine  Master,  greeting  his  entrance  on  a  higher  service  :  "  Well 
done,  thou  good  and  faithful  servant." 
Resolved,  That  we  record  this  testimony  in  our  minutes,  and  transmit  a  copy 

to  the  Board  of  Trustees,  and  to  the  family  of  Dr.  Chambers. 

(Signed)      Jacob  Cooper. 

Albert  H.  Chester, 
Louis  Bevier,  Jr., 

Committee, 
53 


mtmtn  Cljcologtcal  ^cmtnarr 

OF     THE     REFORMED     DUTCH     CHURCH     IN     AMERICA 
HOLLAND,    MICHIGAN 

CHE  Professors  and  Students  of  the  Western  Theological  Seminary,  desir- 
ing to  express  their  grateful  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  the  late  Ur. 
Talbot  W.  Chambers  gave  his  most  valuable  I^ibrary  to  our  Institution,  would 
make  the  following  record  on  our  minutes : 

Resolved,  That  in  receiving  this  large  and  carefully  selected  library,  coming 
from  one  of  the  most  scholarly  of  our  mmisters,  one  honored  not  alone  by 
our  own  church  but  by  all  the  Christian  world,  we  have  reason  for  pro- 
found thankfulness  to  God  for  raising  up  for  us  a  friend  whose  kindly 
Christian  spirit  prompted  him  to  supply  a  need  most  keenly  felt  by  both 
professors  and  students. 
Resolved,  That  we  extend  our  thanks  to  the  family  of  the  late  Dr.  Chambers 
for  their  promptness  and  liberality  in  forvv'arding  the  library  to  us  free  of 
all  charges  and  that  a  copy  of  this  action  be  forwarded  to  them  and  be 
published  in  "  The  Christian  Intelligencer  "  and  the  Holland  City  papers. 

J.  W.  Beardslee,  of  the  Faculty. 

H.  HuiziNGA,  of  the  Senior  class. 

J.  W.  Te  Selle,  of  the  Middle  class. 

Benj,  Hoffman,  of  the  Junior  class. 

jarinceton  Clieologtcal  ^cminat^ 

^f^HE  Professors  of  Princeton  Theological  Seminary  have  heard  with  pro- 
^^  found  grief  and  sorrow  of  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Talbot  W.  Cham- 
bers, for  whom  they  cherished  a  warm  personal  regard,  whose  exemplary 
Christian  character  and  eminently  useful  life  they  greatly  admired,  with  whom 
they  have  long  been  on  terms  of  intimate  and  delightful  fellowship,  and  whose 
loss  they  sincerely  mourn  as  a  public  calamity  to  the  Church  at  large  and  to  the 
cause  of  evangelical  truth  and  sound  Christian  doctrine.  He  was  a  student  of 
this  Seminary  in  1836,  and  was  ever  in  earnest  sympathy  with  the  type  of  the- 
ology here  taught,which  was  the  basis  of  his  preaching  during  an  influentia 
ministry  of  nearly  sixty  years,  and  of  which  he  was  an  able  expounder  and  a 
zealous  defender  both  by  voice  and  pen  to  the  end  of  his  days.  During  a  tem- 
porary vacancy  in  the  chair  of  New  Testament  Literature  and  Exegesis  in  this 
Seminary  he  was  invited  to  lecture  in  that  department,  which  he  did  with  much 
acceptance.  He  was  always  welcomed  here  to  occupy  the  pulpit,  or  to  deliver 
special  lectures,  which  he  did  at  sundry  times.  He  was  a  valued  coadjutor  in 
the  editorship  of  "  The  Presbyterian  Review  "  and  of  "  The  Presbyterian  and  Re- 
formed Review."     And  his  writings  were  always  prized,  whether  in  newspapers 

54 


and  periodicals,  to  which  he  was  a  frequent  contributor,  or  in  pamphlets  and  vol- 
umes. The  numerous  positions  of  trust  which  he  occupied  in  the  Church,  or  in 
educational  and  benevolent  institutions,  or  in  the  work  of  Bible  revision,  were 
filled  by  him  with  signal  fidelity.  His  activity  in  religious  and  literary  labors  was 
maintained  to  the  last ;  and  his  decease  has  put  an  end  to  important  work  which 
he  had  undertaken,  but  which  must  now  remain  unaccomplished.  We  feel 
that  a  great  and  a  good  man  has  fallen  in  Israel,  who  will  be  sadly  missed,  and 
whose  place  it  will  be  difficult  to  fill.  We  can  only  bow  submissively  to  the 
sovereign  will  of  that  gracious  Redeemer  who  has  called  his  servant  to  his  re- 
ward and  to  a  higher  sphere  of  activity.  We  tender  to  his  family  and  friends 
our  sincere  sympathy,  and  share  with  them  the  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  our 
common  loss. 

We  have  deputed  two  of  our  number  to  attend  the  funeral  of  our  departed 
friend,  who  will  go  unless  providentially- hindered. 

Yours  in  Christian  bonds, 

W.  Henry  Green, 

On  behalf  of  the  Professors. 
To  the  Family  of  Rev.  Dr.  Chambers. 


9lUtance  of  Ecformtti  O^urcl&ejs 

The  Rev.  Talbot  Wilson  Chambers,  D.D.,  LL.D., 
Chairman  of  the  Western  Section,  and  President  of  the 
"  Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches  throughout  the 
world,  holding  the  Presbyterian  System,"  having  departed 
this  life  in  New  York  City  on  February  3,  1896,  the  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  of  the  Western  Section  adopted  the 
following  Minute  with  reference  to  his  life  and  services  : 

^tnutc 

?rrsR.  Chambers  was  born  in  Carlisle,  Pa.,  February  25,  1819,  was  a  graduate 
*^  of  Rutgers  College,  and  pursued  theological  studies  at  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Seminary.  New  Brunswick,  and  at  the  Presbyterian  Theological  Seminary, 
Princeton,  N,  J.  Ordained  in  1840,  he  ser\'ed  until  1849  as  pastor  of  the  Re- 
formed Dutch  Church,  Somerville,  N.  J.,  and  from  1849  onward  w^as  one  of  the 
pastors  of  the  Collegiate  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  New  York  City,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  decease  the  senior  Pastor  of  the  Church.  In  addition  to  his  long  and 
distinguished  pastoral  labors.  Dr.  Chambers  rendered  efficient  service  in  other 
lines  of  Christian  work,  especially  in  connection  with  this  Alliance.  In  1884  he 
became  Chairman  of  the  Western  Section,  and  in  1892  was  made  President  of 
the  Alliance.     The  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Churches  upon  all  the  conti- 

55 


0ppenDip 

nents  looked  forward  with  much  pleasure  to  his  presence  as  presiding  officer  at 
their  Sixth  General  Council,  to  be  held  at  Glasgow,  Scotland,  in  June  of  this 
year.  At  this  Council  he  was  to  have  delivered  the  address  as  President  of  the 
Alliance,  and  it  is  with  sincere  sorrow  that  we  look  forward  to  the  substitution 
for  it  of  an  obituary.  His  entire  career  as  officer  of  the  Alliance  was  charac- 
terized by  great  dignity,  large  catholicity  of  spirit,  earnest  interest  in  every 
movement  which  gave  promise  of  inuring  to  the  welfare  of  the  Church,  and 
great  activity  up  to  the  last  in  the  performance  of  the  duties  assigned  to  him. 
Deeply  imbued  with  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  he  was  a  true  servant  of  the  Lord, 
meek,  patient,  gentle  unto  all,  an  example  to  believers  in  word,  in  conversation, 
m  charity,  in  faith,  in  purity.  His  labors  ended,  he  has  entered  into  eternal 
rest,  and  has  received  the  crown  of  righteousness.  The  deep  and  widesoread 
regret  at  his  sudden  and  unexpected  departure  from  this  life  is  alleviated  by 
thoughts  of  his  high  personal  character,  the  valuable  service  which  he  rendered 
to  the  Kingdom  of  Christ,  and  the  joy  into  whose  fulness  he  has  now  entered. 
We  tender  to  his  bereaved  family  heartfelt  sympathy  in  their  great  affliction, 
with  the  earnest  hope  that  they  may  be  comforted  with  the  comfort  of  Him  who 
never  forsaketh  those  that  trust  in  Him. 

To  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  America,  with 
whom  the  whole  ministerial  life  of  Dr.  Chambers  was  passed,  we  tender  sin- 
cere condolences  for  the  great  loss  they  have  suffered  by  the  removal  from  their 
midst  of  a  high-minded  minister,  an  accomplished  scholar,  a  faithful  pastor  and 
an  influential  counsellor  and  leader. 

Attest, 

Wm.  Henry  Roberts, 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  March  23,  1896.  Secretary. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Commission  of  the 
Eastern  Section,  held  at  Glasgow,  February  25th,  the 
General  Secretary,  the  Rev.  Dr.  G.  D.  Matthews,  reported 
the  death,  after  a  very  brief  illness,  of  the  Rev,  Dr. 
Chambers,  of  New  York,  President  of  the  Alliance. 
Members  of  the  Section  having  expressed  their  high 
appreciation  of  Dr.  Chambers,  and  their  sense  of  the  loss 
occasioned  to  the  Alliance  by  his  death,  the  following 
Minute  was  unanimously  adopted  : 

^tnute 

QrtT  is  with  feelings  of  no  ordinary  regret  that  the  Eastern  Section  now  place  on 
3/  record  a  brief  memorial  of  the  President  of  our  Alliance,  the  late  Rev.  Dr. 
Talbot  Wilson  Chambers,  of  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church,  New  York,  who 

56 


died  there  on  the  3d  of  February',  1896.  Conspicuous  at  the  successive  meetings 
of  the  Alliance  at  Philadelphia,  Belfast,  London  and  Toronto,  Dr.  Chambers 
gained  the  esteem  of  all  by  his  cordial  interest  in  its  operations,  his  able  and  in- 
telligent contributions  to  its  proceedings,  the  tact,  wisdom  and  courtesy  which 
he  manifested  on  all  occasions,  and  the  devout  and  loyal  Christian  spirit  which 
was  so  apparent  in  his  whole  demeanor.  Distiuguished  in  his  own  country  for 
long  and  faithful  service,  not  only  to  his  own  Church,  but  to  the  cause  of  Christ 
in  its  widest  bearings ;  combining  full  and  accurate  scholarship  with  readiness 
of  speech  and  with  the  pen  of  the  ready  writer ;  laborious,  diligent  and 
methodical  in  his  habits,  he  did  an  amount  of  valuable  work  in  Church  Courts, 
Boards,  Committees,  and  other  public  positions  which  has  been  rarely  equalled, 
while  his  pen  enabled  him  to  spread  far  and  wide  in  a  clear  and  interesting  man- 
ner the  views  that  commended  themselves  to  him  on  many  topics  of  the  highest 
importance.  For  these  and  other  quaiifications  Dr.  Chambers  was  cordially 
and  unanimously  called  by  the  Toronto  Council  to  fill  the  office  of  President  of 
the  Alliance,  and  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  his  friends  were  looking  forward 
with  eager  expectation  to  the  coming  meeting  of  the  Council  at  Glasgow,  over 
which  it  would  have  been  his  office  to  preside.  The  Commission  desire  rever- 
ently to  bow  to  the  decree  of  Providence  that  has  deprived  them  of  the  pleasure 
and  profit  which  they  were  so  eagerly  expecting  ;  and,  while  recordmg  their  es- 
teem for  himself  and  their  deep  regret  at  his  removal,  desire  to  commend  his 
bereaved  family  and  friends  to  the  gracious  love  and  consolation  of  Him  who 
doth  not  afflict  willingly,  nor  grieve  the  children  of  men. 

A  true  copy, 

Wm.  Henry  Roberts, 

American  Secretary. 

^Letter 

FROM   THE  REV.  WILLIAM   HENRY   ROBERTS,  D.  D. 

Rev.  Edward  B.  Coe,  D.D., 

My  Dear  Brother  : 
<^T  gave  me  a  sorrowful  pleasure  to  forward  to  you  the  action  taken  by  the 
^  Western  and  Eastern  Sections  of  the  "  Alliance  of  the  Reformed  Churches 
throughout  the  world,  holding  the  Presbyterian  System,"  with  reference 
to  the  lamented  death  of  the  President  of  the  Alliance,  Rev.  Dr.  Talbot  W. 
Chambers.  Dr.  Chambers  first  came  into  relation  with  the  Alliance  at  Phila- 
delphia in  1880,  through  the  reading  of  an  admirable  paper  on  the  subject  of 
"Bible  Revision."  At  Belfast,  Ireland,  in  1884,  during  the  sessions  of  the  Third 
General  Council  of  the  Alliance,  he  was  elected  Chairman  of  the  Western 
Section,  a  position  which  he  continued  to  hold  until  the  date  of  his  death.  Prior 
to  the  year  1888,  when  it  was  my  privilege  to  be  chosen  the  American  Secretary 
of  the  Alliance,  Dr.  Chambers  was  known  to  me  by  virtue  of  his  intellectual 
attainments  as  one  of  the  leading  Christian  ministers  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

57 


Associated  with  him  personally  and  officially  from  that  year  forward,  I  soon 
learned  to  appreciate  him  for  the  lovable  qualities  of  his  nature  as  well  as  to 
admire  him  for  his  mental  powers.  It  was  my  privilege  to  be  with  him  at  the 
time  of  the  death  of  his  beloved  wife  at  Portland,  Oregon,  and  the  impression 
which  I  had  previously  received  of  his  high  Christian  character  and  increasing 
conformity  to  the  likeness  of  our  Lord,  was  yet  the  more  deepened.  His 
election  as  President  of  the  Alliance  was  an  honor  in  every  respect  deserved, 
and  brought  out  with  great  clearness  the  Christian  virtues  which  he  possessed. 
I  do  not  feel  called  upon  further  to  refer  to  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held 
by  all  the  brethren  of  the  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Churches  in  his  official 
relations.  This  is  sufficiently  attested  to  by  the  action  of  the  two  Sections  of  the 
Alliance.  My  purpose  is  simply  to  place  on  record  our  most  cordial  esteem 
and  regard  for  one  of  the  most  considerate,  kindly  and  lovable  of  men,  who  as 
he  grew  riper  in  years  grew  increasingly  into  the  likeness  of  the  beloved 
Master  whom  we  in  common  serve.  May  God  raise  up  for  the  Church  others 
like  unto  our  departed  friend. 

With  sincere  esteem, 

Yours  Fraternally, 

Wm.  Henry  Roberts, 

American  Secretary. 

^Imertcan  Cract  ^ocict^ 

At  a  special  meeting  of  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  American  Tract  Society,  called  for  the  occasion  Feb- 
ruary 5th,  1 896,  the  following  Minute  was  adopted  : 

3N  the  recent  death  of  the  Rev.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  S.T.D.,  LL.D.,  the 
Tract  Society  deeply  mourns  the  loss  of  another  of  the  great  and  good  men 
whom  it  has  from  time  to  time  been  privileged  to  number  among  its  active  co- 
laborers. 

Dr.  Chambers  became  a  member  of  the  Publishing  and  Executive  Com- 
mittees in  the  Spring  of  1881,  and  was  elected  Chairman  of  the  Publishing 
Committee  in  1890,  and  of  the  Executive  Committee  in  1892,  holding  the  offices 
till  death.  As  a  member  of  both  Committees  his  associates  most  highly 
esteemed  and  loved  him — for  his  supreme  devotion  to  Christ  and  His  cause, 
his  prompt  and  regular  attendance  at  meetings  of  committees,  his  readiness  for 
any  service  to  the  Society,  his  courtesy  of  manner  and  the  wisdom  of  his  coun- 
sels, his  fidelity  to  the  evangelical  principles  of  the  Society,  and  his  scholarship 
in  the  selection  of  its  publications. 

In  common  with  the  Church  of  his  choice,  with  many  Christian  charitable 

58 


0ppenDij; 

societies,  and  with  the  universal  Christian  Church,  the  Committee  mourns  the 
loss  of  a  man  of  God,  eminent  for  his  piety,  learning  and  judgment,  prominent 
in  the  councils  and  operations  of  his  own  denomination  and  the  Church  at  large, 
a  lover  of  the  word  of  God,  an  influential  member  of  the  Committee  of  Revision, 
a  staunch  defender  of  the  claims  of  the  Bible  against  every  assault,  and  con- 
stant in  labors  to  furnish  it  unalloyed  with  works  illustrating  and  enforcing  its 
truths,  in  many  languages,  and  to  promote  its  circulation  throughout  the 
world. 

Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  this  minute  be  transmitted  to  the  family  of  Dr. 
Chambers,  with  the  sincere  condolence  of  the  Tract  Society ;  that  the 
several  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  be  requested  to  attend  the 
funeral  services  together ;  and  that  a  special  notice  of  the  time  and  place 
of  these  services  be  sent  to  each  member. 

Wm.  W.  Rand, 

Secretary,  A.T.S. 

amettcan  isible  ^octet^ 

At  the  stated  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the 
American  Bible  Society,  held  at  the  Bible  House  on 
Thursday,  the  6th  of  March,  1896,  the  following  Minute 
relating  to  the  Rev.  T.  W.  Chambers,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  was 
unanimously  approved  ;  and  it  was  directed  that  it  be 
printed  in  the  "  Bible  Society  Record,"  and  that  a  copy  of 
it  be  sent  to  the  family  of  Dr.  Chambers. 

Minute 

^ipORASMUCH  as  it  hath  pleased  Almighty  God,  in  His  good  Providence,  to 
•J'  take  out  of  this  world  the  soul  of  the  Rev.  Talbot  V/.  Chambers.  D.D.,  for 
twenty-three  years  a  member,  and  during  the  past  fourteen  years  the  Chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Versions  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  we,  his  associ- 
ates, desire  to  put  on  record  our  testimony  to  the  nobility  of  his  character,  his 
profound  scholarship,  his  services  to  the  Church  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  as 
well  as  to  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  to  his  wise  counsels,  and  never-fail- 
ing courtesy  as  a  member  and  as  the  Chairman  of  this  Committee. 

He  had  not  only  that  erudition  which  qualified  him  to  fill  the  chair  of  a  pro- 
fessor of  theology,  and  to  co-operate  with  the  English  revisers  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, but  also  a  stock  of  information  on  missionary  and  ecclesiastical  matters 
which  enabled  him  to  adduce  illustrations  valuable  and  pertinent  to  the  occasion 
which  called  him  up. 

In  his  death  we  have  met  a  very  great  loss,  but  we  comfort  ourselves  with  the 

59 


thought  that  he  came  to  his  "  grave  in  a  full  age,  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh 
in  in  his  season,"  and  has  entered  into  the  rest  that  remaineth  to  the  people  of 

^^^-  Edward  W.  Oilman, 

Secretary. 

S0in\xte 

/fir' HE  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Presbyterian  Hospital  record  with  sorrow  the 
^^  death  of  their  late  associate,  Rev.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  S.T.D..  LL.D., 
who  died  at  his  home  in  this  city  after  an  illness  of  a  few  days,  on  February 
3rd,  1896. 

Dr.  Chambers  was  born  in  Carlisle,  Pa.,  on  February  25th,  1819.  He  was 
graduated  at  Rutgers  College  in  1834,  and  studied  Theology  at  New  Brunswick 
and  at  Princeton.  He  was  chosen  as  one  of  the  Pastors  of  the  Collegiate  Re- 
formed Church  in  1849.  and  at  the  time  of  his  death  had  been  senior  minister 
of  that  body  for  the  last  three  years. 

He  was  a  distinguished  biblical  scholar,  Chairman  of  the  Revision  Committee 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  a  widely  read  Theologian,  and  a  Preacher  of 
marked  ability,  eminently  evangelical  and  practical,  and  the  dignity  and  purity 
of  his  Christian  life  emphasized  his  teaching. 

His  publications  were  many  and  scholarly,  and  always  loyal  to  the  truth  and 
to  Christ. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  a  Manager  of  the  Bible  Society,  a  Trustee 
of  Rutgers  College,  and  also  of  Columbia  University,  and  for  the  last  three  years 
a  member  of  the  Clerical  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Hospital. 

He  labored  up  to  the  very  close  of  life,  and  exercised  a  wide  influence  not 
only  in  the  venerable  body  he  served  so  long,  but  also  in  the  community  at 
large.     His  memory  will  long  be  cherished  and  his  name  revered. 

It  is  ordered  that  this  minute  of  affection  and  respect  be  entered  in  full  on 
the  minutes,  and  that  a  copy  be  sent  to  his  family  with  expressions  of  the  sin- 
cerest  sympathy  of  every  member  of  the  Board. 

George  E.  Dodge, 
New  York,  February  nth,  1896.  Corresponding  Secretary. 

goung  apcu*j2i  €\^ti^t\an  Qimociation 

OF  THE  CITY  OF  NEW  YORK 

February  21,  1896. 
At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Young 
Men's  Christian  Association  of  the  City  of   New  York, 

60 


held  on  the  evening  of  the  17th  inst,  the  following  was 
unanimously  adopted : 

fftr'HE  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Association  learn  with  sorrow  of  the  death  of 
^^  the  Rev,  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  D.D.,  after  a  brief  illness,  February  3d, 
in  the  seventy-seventh  year  of  his  age. 

In  point  of  service  Dr.  Chambers  was  the  senior  pastor  of  the  city,  and  was 
the  last  of  the  circle  of  city  pastors  who  were  familiar  with  the  Association  from 
its  organization.  He  was  always  ready  to  render  service  in  behalf  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. 

The  Board  of  Directors  keenly  feel  the  loss  of  their  friend,  and  hereby  ex- 
tend their  sympathy  to  his  bereaved  family,  and 

Resolved,  That  this  minute  be  spread  on  the  records  of  the  Board,  and  a  copy 
be  sent  to  the  family  of  our  departed  friend. 

In  behalf  of  the  Board  of  Directors, 

R.  R.  McBuRNEY. 

General  Secretary. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  teachers  of  the  Knox  Memorial 
Sunday-School  held  at  the  Chapel,  February  9,  1896,  the 
following  Minute  on  the  death  of  Talbot  W.  Chambers, 
D.D.,  LL.D.,  was  adopted: 

^ir'  HE  relations  between  Dr.  Chambers  and  the  Knox  Memorial  Chapel  were 
^^    especially  close. 

He  was  at  our  chapel  services  frequently,  both  in  the  morning  and  evening, 
and  often  preached  there ;  he  knew  our  chapel  congregation  individually ;  he 
was  always  with  us  at  our  Christmas  festivals  and  at  our  Industrial  School  clos- 
ings ;  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  our  Sunday-School,  and  was  always  present  at 
the  Elders'  meeting  to  receive  new  members  of  the  church. 

One  of  his  last  public  appearances  was  at  our  chapel  at  the  Elders'  meeting 
on  January  23d,  when  he  received  those  who  were  uniting  with  the  church. 

That  occasion  will  not  be  forgotten  by  those  who  heard  him  ;  he  was  inter- 
ested in  the  numbers  before  him  and  in  the  answers  he  received  ;  he  gave  much 
counsel  and  advice,  and  illustrated  his  remarks  with  personal  reminiscences  and 
anecdotes,  and  greatly  impressed  those  who  heard  him. 

In  common  with  all  branches  of  our  church  we  deeply  mourn  his  loss  ;  to  us 
his  death  is  a  personal  and  especial  bereavement. 

We  rejoice,  however,  in  the  noble  record  of  his  life's  work ;  pre-eminently  a 
scholar,  he  was  also  a  genial  friend  ;  a  man  himself  above  reproach,  he  had  a 

61 


0ppenDtp 

tender  sympathy  for  erring  human  nature ;  and  above  all  he  had  a  stalwart  faith 
in  the  religion  that  he  professed,  which  yielded  nothing  to  the  insidious  teach- 
ings of  the  present  time. 

We  revered  him  as  a  man,  we  respected  him  as  a  scholar,  we  loved  him  as  a 
friend  and  we  knew  him  as  a  true  Christian. 

Our  sympathies  and  prayers  are  with  his  family  in  their  great  sorrow. 
Resolved,  That  the  foregoing  minute  be  and  it  hereby  is  adopted,  and  that  a 

copy  be  sent  to  the  family  of  Dr.  Chambers. 

Extract  from  the  minutes. 

F.  A.  Allen, 

Secretary. 


Cl)i  ^Ipl^a 

A  Minute  expressive  of  the  affection  of  this  Association 
of  Ministers  for  Dr.  Chambers  and  their  regret  at  his 
death,  was  presented  at  their  meeting  on  the  15th  of  May, 
by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Coe,  and  unanimously  adopted.  As  the 
substance  of  it  is  found  in  the  foregoing  address,  it  is  not 
here  reprinted. 


aipi^a  ©elta 

ADOPTED  MARCH  9,  1 896 

i|l±Y  the  death  of  Dr.  Talbot  W.  Chambers  our  circle  has  lost  its  oldest  and 
^^  most  honored  member.  In  the  year  1862  he  became  a  member  of  Alpha 
Delta,  and  from  that  time  to  the  very  day  of  his  death  he  was  most  deeply  interested 
in  the  Society,  and  was  its  most  constant  attendant.  To  speak  of  his  public  life 
and  his  varied  and  important  labors  for  the  cause  of  Christ  and  His  Church  is 
certainly  unnecessary  here,  in  view  of  the  many  testimonials  which  have  already 
been  uttered,  and  our  personal  familiarity  with  his  life  and  labors.  That  which 
appeals  most  directly  to  us  is  undoubtedly  our  personal  sense  of  loss,  as  we  re- 
alize that  for  the  last  time  we  have  listened  to  his  carefully  prepared  and  sug- 
gestive papers,  to  his  masterly  and  clear  analyses  of  sermons,  and  to  his  helpful 
words  of  criticism  or  approbation  in  the  ordinary  discussions  of  our  circle.  It 
was  always  an  incentive  to  us  who  vi^ere  younger  to  do  our  best  work,  because 
we  were  sure  of  the  presence  and  the  interested  attention  of  this  master-mind 

62 


among  us.  Yet  undoubtedly  the  deepest  sense  of  loss  finds  utterance  in  the  ex- 
pression of  our  hearts  ;  for  it  was  not  so  much  as  a  mentor  and  teacher,  but  as 
a  good,  kindly  friend  and  loving  father  in  Christ,  that  we  all  regarded  him.  No 
one  could  have  been  taken  from  us  whom  we  should  so  universally  and  deeply 
mourn,  and  whose  loss  would  be  felt  so  much  a  personal  one  upon  the  part  of 
every  one  of  us.  His  was  a  nature  truly  tender  and  sympathetic,  combining 
the  simplicity  of  a  really  great  intellect  with  the  tenderness  of  a  retiring,  gentle 
heart.  To  many  of  us  the  Alpha  Delta  will  never  be  the  same — so  delightful 
and  so  useful  in  our  Christian  and  professional  lives — that  it  was  when  Dr. 
Chambers  was  one  of  us. 

A  true  copy. 

Wm.  Rankin  Duryee, 

Recording  Secretary. 


Ci^e  (0reefe  Club 


48  West  46th  Street, 

March  5th,  1896. 
To  THE  Family  of  the  Reverend 

Dr.  Talbot  W.  Chambers  : 
•T^CT  the  last  meeting  of  our  Greek  Club,  at  which  there  was  a  full  attendance 
'^  of  the  members,  I  was  requested,  as  the  Senior  member,  by  the  unani- 
mous voice  of  those  present,  to  convey  to  the  family  of  the  Reverend  Dr. 
Chambers  the  expression  of  our  common  feeling  of  reverent  regard  for  his 
noble  character,  his  pure  and  gentle  life,  and  our  appreciation  of  the  sweet 
fellowship  which  for  so  many  years  bound  our  little  band  together  harmoniously 
in  kindred  and  unselfish  pursuits.  Mingled  with  this  feeling  was  one  of  deep 
sense  of  personal  loss,  the  regret  that  we  shall  see  his  face  and  hear  his  voice 
no  more  here  on  earth.  No  one  could  know  your  father  and  not  honor  him  for 
his  faithful  work  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  and  love  him  for  the  purity  and 
grace  of  his  daily  life.  To  us,  his  associates  for  many  years,  the  close  inter- 
course into  which  we  were  brought  with  him  in  the  genial  unrestrained  dis- 
cussions at  our  weekly  or  fortnightly  meetings,  was  a  benediction.  At  these 
gatherings,  as  in  all  he  undertook,  he  was  most  faithful  and  regular  in  his 
attendance,  ever  ready  to  take  his  part  in  our  self-imposed  duties.  His  wide 
reading  in  many  departments  of  human  knowledge,  and  his  profound  acquaint- 
ance with  Holy  Scripture,  commanded  respect  from  all  for  his  opinions,  which 
were  always  modestly  expressed.  We  greatly  miss  his  bodily  presence,  but  the 
memory  of  his  noble  nature  and  of  his  beautiful  Christian  life  will  find  a  per- 
manent abiding  place  in  the  hearts  of  us  all. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Henry  Drisler. 
In  behalf  of  the  members  of  The  Greek  Club. 

t>3 


from  ""Cl^e  Ci^rtjsttan  gintelUgenccr" 

-^HE  death  of  Dr.  Chambers  comes  to  us  not  only  as  a  personal  bereavement, 
^  but  an  almost  irreparable  loss  to  the  Church  of  which  he  was  probably 
the  most  widely  known  and  honored  representative.  His  force  of  character,  his 
wide  and  accurate  scholarship,  his  always  clear  and  vigorous  writings,  put  him 
in  the  front  rank  among  the  leaders  of  theological  thought.  The  senior  pastor 
of  the  leading  church  of  his  denomination,  heartily  loyal  to  all  its  interests,  par- 
ticularly devoted  to  its  missionary  and  educational  work,  his  death  makes  a 
breach  such  as  cannot  be  filled  by  any  single  individual.  He  worthily  repre- 
sented his  denomination  in  many  of  the  union  agencies  for  Christian  and  philan- 
thropic effort.  His  reputation  covered  both  continents,  attested  among  other 
honors  by  his  unanimous  choice,  in  1892,  to  succeed  the  Rev.  Dr.  W.  G.  Blaikie 
as  President  of  the  Executive  Commission  of  the  world-wide  Alliance  of  Re- 
formed Churches,  a  position  he  was  worthily  filling  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
Though  nearly  fourscore  years  of  age,  his  physical  and  mental  vigor  and  activity 
seemed  unabated,  and  there  was  promise  of  yet  longer  usefulness.  Nowhere 
possibly  will  his  valued  and  able  services  be  more  missed  than  in  the  columns  of 
the  "  Intelligencer,"  to  which  he  has  for  fully  fifty  years  been  a  constant  and  always 
acceptable  contributor.  We  pen  this  tribute  with  sincere  sorrow  over  the  loss 
of  one  whose  life  was  abundant  in  noble  deeds  unselfishly  rendered,  in  scholarly 
productions  ever  permeated  with  loyalty  to  truth  and  to  Christ,  and  whose 
length  of  days  only  increased  the  range  and  worth  of  his  services  and  honors. 
The  world  and  the  Church  are  poorer  for  his  going  home. 


from  ^^Cl^e  CbangcUjst" 

CHE  obsequies  of  a  learned  and  good  man  are  always  impressive,  but  the 
great  audience  gathered  in  the  Forty-eighth  Street  Church  on  Friday 
morning  last  must  have  experienced  new  sensations  of  fitness  and  solemnity 
while  the  simple  service  progressed  and  the  body  of  the  senior  Collegiate  pastor 
lay  under  white  rose  wreaths  beneath  the  pulpit  from  which  he  had  often 
spoken.  The  simplicity  and  modesty  of  a  great  scholar,  the  majesty  and  beauty 
of  a  great  man,  were  pleasantly  suggested  by  every  detail  of  the  service  and  the 
surroundings.  If  the  Church  in  New  York  has  lost  one  of  her  shining  lights,  the 
manner  of  her  expression  of  regret  was  appropriately  modest,  yet  filled  with  the 
truest  emotion.  And  any  one  who  knew  Dr.  Chambers  at  all  well  appreciated 
the  perfect  arrangements  which  made  his  funeral  a  model  of  quiet,  exalted  and 

inspiring  observances. 

«  *  *  *  *  * 

Of  Dr.  Chambers  himself  it  is  not  our  purpose  to  speak  here  at  length.     At 
a  later  day  his  memorial  is  to  be  written   by  his   now   senior   colleague,  Dr. 

64 


Edward  B.  Coe,  when  we  shall  recur  to  the  relations  of  Dr.  Chambers  to  the 
Christian  world  and  the  Presbyterian  Church  also.     For  he  was  too  large  a  man 
to  limit  his  activity  or  sympathy  to  the   Reformed  Church  alone.     Columbia 
College,  by  its  President  and  Trustees,  was  present  at  his  funeral.     The  Bible 
and  Tract  Societies  presented  memorial  tributes  at  the  meeting  of  the  clergy 
just  preceding.     The   Board   of  Missions   of  the   Reformed  Church  and   the 
Presbyterian  Alliance,  the  Chi   Alpha,  and   the   Consistory  of  the   Collegiate 
Church,  all  took  action  on  the  departure  of  one  who  had  been  a  foremost  and 
most  loved  member  and  associate.     Tributes  also  had  been  sent  from  many 
institutions  in  this  country  to  which  Dr.  Chambers  had  ministered  as  a  scholar 
and  helper,  and  from  over  sea,  where  as  a  member  of  the  Revision  Committee, 
his  mastery  of  the  originals,  and  his  marvelous  insight  into  the  deep  things  of 
revelation  had  made  a  profound  impression.     Rarely  had  so  many  and  so  varied 
Christian  activities  clustered   lovingly  around   one  bier,  tenderly  touched  the 
moveless  hands,  tearfully  looked  into  the  unspeaking  face.     It  was  a  signal 
instance  of  the  far  reach  of  one  strong  life,  of  one  spirit  which  sought  only  the 
highest  things.     This  is  achievement,  to  knit  the  best  men  of  the  world  unto 
oneself,  to  weave  one's  own  grandeur  into  the  web  of  all  noblest  human  en- 
deavor.    Whoever  is  to-day  seeking  great  things  for  himself  in  any  worthy  call- 
ing, should  sit  by  the  bier  of  Chambers  and  learn  how  the  man  who  works  for 
the  love  of  it,  who  hunts  out  and  illustrates  the  truth  for  its  own  sake,  comes  at 
length  to  a  harvest  of  honors  such  as  no  buyer  of  laurels  for  his  own  brow  can 
hope  to  gather.     When  the  race  is  on,  and  men  are  wild  with  desire  to  win,  it  is 
well  to  have  the  lesson  of  such  a  life  brought  close  home  to  the  hearts  of  the 
thoughtful  among  our  business  men.     Especially  good  for  young  men  in  school 
or  seminary  is  the  touch  of  a  man  like  Chambers,  even  if  it  be  only  by  his  funeral 
notice.     And  if  the  good  die  not,  if  the  good  which  men  do  lives  after  them,  then 
the  end  of  such  a  life  is  better  than  the  beginning,  and  the  farewell  hour  with 
him  profitable  for  all  that  follow. 


-Jir  HE  Reformed  Church  in  America  and  the  Christian  Church  at  large  sus- 
tains a  great  loss  by  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Talbot  Wilson  Chambers, 
of  this  city. 

****** 
Dr.  Chambers  was  a  pronounced  conservative  in  matters  of  religious  faith. 
He  was  an  assiduous  student  from  his  early  years  until  his  death.  He  was 
perfectly  familiar  with  all  the  forms  of  skepticism,  agnosticism,  German  ration- 
alism and  the  so-called  higher  criticism  of  our  own  country  and  Great  Britain. 
He  was  a  regular  contributor  to  the  columns  of  "  The  New  York  Observer," 
both  over  his  own  signature  and  as  an  editorial  associate.     In  the  columns  of 

65 


this  journal  and  elsewhere  he  published  keen  analyses  of  some  of  the  most 
dangerous  sophistries  of  the  age,  punctured  their  aerial  pretensions,  and  set  forth 
the  truth  in  precise  and  lucid  terms.  He  wielded  a  sharp  and  ready  sword  in 
the  defence  of  evangelical  theology,  and  struck  his  telling  blows  with  unerring 
precision.  Theological  errors  never  escaped  him,  and  their  exposure  and 
practical  annihilation  were  his  delight,  while  his  appreciative  readers  would 
follow  him  with  a  perpetual  relish.  The  beloved  wife  of  Dr.  Chambers  passed 
away  a  few  years  before  him.  Her  death  was  a  great  blow,  but  he  continued 
his  unremitting  and  useful  labors  to  the  last.  Not  long  since  he  intimated  to  a 
friend  that  an  attack  of  vertigo  had  impressed  him  with  the  necessity  of  setting 
his  house  in  order,  and  affirmed  that  he  had  done  so.  Within  two  weeks  he 
was  in  the"  Observer  "  rooms,  chatting  pleasantly  with  the  workers  there.  We 
had  not  thought  to  lose  him  for  some  time  yet,  although  he  was  so  nearly 
seventy-seven  years  of  age ;  and  nowhere  outside  of  his  own  family  circle  will 
his  death  leave  a  deeper  shadow  than  upon  us.  But  the  doughty  champion  has 
laid  down  the  sword,  which  he  wielded  so  well,  and  the  faithful  pastor  and  able 
preacher,  the  true  friend,  the  catholic-spirited  Christian  worker  is  of  the  earth 
no  more.  He  has  entered  a  larger  sphere,  whose  opportunities  are  beyond  our 
mortal  comprehension.  Concerning  his  earthly  career,  he  has  heard  the  King's 
"  Well  done."  There  remains  henceforth  for  him  the  rest  of  them  who  rest  not 
day  nor  night  in  their  untiring  service  of  our  Lord. 


w 


from  ^'Ci^e  3!tttiepenDcnt " 

kR.  TALBOT  W.  CHAMBERS,  whose  sudden  death  last  week  came  as  a 
shock  to  all  mterested  in  Christian  work  in  this  city  and  in  the  country, 
was  the  senior  pastor  of  the  Collegiate  (Dutch)  Reformed  Church.  He  was 
born  in  Carlisle,  Penn.,  February  25th,  181 9,  graduated  from  Rutgers  College  in 
1834,  and  studied  theology  at  New  Brunswick  and  Princeton.  He  was  licensed 
to  preach  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  in  1839  entered  the  pastorate  at  Somer- 
ville,  N.  J.  Ten  years  later  he  was  installed  in  the  Collegiate  Church  in  this 
city,  and  for  forty-seven  years  has  been  connected  with  that  church.  His  inter- 
ests, however,  were  far  wider  than  his  immediate  parish.  He  was  active  in  the 
work  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  served  for  many  years  as  Chairman  of 
its  Committee  of  Versions.  The  Evangelical  Alliance  and  Presbyterian  Alli- 
ance and  other  organizations  were  also  objects  of  great  interest  with  him,  and 
he  was  the  honored  President  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Western 
Branch  of  the  Alliance.  He  was  widely  known  as  a  scholar,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  American  Bible  Revision  Committee  in  charge  of  the  work  on  the  Old 
Testament.  He  was  also  a  large  contributor  to  the  religious  press  and  a  vig- 
orous writer ;  always  conservative  in  doctrine,  although  his  blows  at  what  he 
considered  to  be  false  teaching  never  left  the  impression  of  a  harsh  antagonist. 

66 


0ppcnDi): 

Up  till  within  a  very  short  time  of  his  death  he  was  active  in  all  good  work, 
taking  especial  interest  in  the  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  various  mission 
boards,  which  was  held  a  short  time  since  in  the  Synod's  rooms  in  this  city. 
More  than  any  other  one  man  he  might  be  called  the  leader  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  America  in  every  department  of  its  work. 


ifrom  "Ci^e  Ci^rfjittan  at  moth" 


3 


|N  the  death  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  one  of  the  most  honored 
of  ministers  of  the  Gospel  and  one  of  the  foremost  of  scholars  ceases 
from  earth,  and  the  last  of  that  body  of  stalwart  preachers  who  stood  at  the 
head  of  the  Collegiate  Church  fifty  years,  ago— the  Rev.  Drs.  John  Knox,  Wil- 
liam  C.   Brownlee,   Thomas   DeWitt.  Thomas  E.  Vermilye   and   Talbot   W. 
Chambers— has  passed  away.     The  career  so  suddenly  ended  was  one  of  cease- 
less  activity  and   usefulness.     Besides  carrying  on   his   pastoral  work  in   the 
Collegiate  Church  in  this  city.  Dr.  Chambers  took  an  active  interest  in  the  work 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  and  was  for  many  years  Chairman  of  its  Commit- 
tee on  Versions.     But  it  was  as  a  member  of  the  Old  Testament  Company  of 
the  American  Revision  Committee  that  Dr.  Chambers  put  in  his  most  scholarly 
work  and  rendered  lasting  service  to  the  cause  of  Bible  revision.     Rendered,  as 
this  service  was,  in  the  quiet  of  the  Committee's  rooms,  but  little  is  known  to  the 
outside  world  of  the  value  of  Dr.  Chambers'  scholarly  and  conscientious  work, 
but  it  is  well  known  to  his  associates  and  to  the  world  of  biblical  scholarship. 
Dr.  Chambers  was  very  strenuous  in  holding  his  opinions,  and  his  mind  was  of 
so  conservative  and  we  may  say  confirmed  an  order  that  it  was  scarcely  possible 
for  him  to  entertain  any  proposition  contravening  any  of  the  tenets  so  long  held 
by  him.     Yet  Dr.  Chambers  was  by  no  means  harsh  or  unkindly,  nor  did  he 
question  the  sincerity,  however  he  might  dispute  the  conclusions,  of  those  differ- 
ing from  him.    .Our  friend  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  magazines  and  news- 
papers ;  and  our  readers  will  recall  his  scholarly  contributions  to  "  The  Christian 
at  Work."     Especially  do  we  here  recall  a  brilliant  article  from  his  pen  on  "  Per- 
verted Texts  of  Scripture,"  among  which  he  cited,  "  Woe  to  him  that  putteth 
the  bottle  to  his  neighbor's  lips,"  and  "  Touch  not,  taste  not,  handle  not,"  and 
others.     Dr.  Chambers  remarked  in  returning  the  proof  of  his  article  with  cor- 
rections, that  he  believed  "  only  one  other  religious  journal  in  the  city  would 
print  that  article  !  "—not  very  complimentary  to  the  independence  of  some  relig- 
ious papers,  it  must  be  confessed. 

But  now  the  scholar,  the  strong  mind,  the  faithful  pastor,  the  genuine  Chris- 
tian gentleman  is  no  more.  His  work  assuredly  was  "  well  done."  and  his 
memory  and  example  of  intense  earnestness  and  conscientiousness  remain  as  a 
stimulus  and  encouragement  to  others,  even  though  their  feet  do  not  always 
press  along  the  way  that  he  trod. 

67 


^ppcnoiv 


from  ''CI)c  €\)xi^tim  i^cralti" 

3N  the  recent  death  of  Rev.  Talbot  W.  Chambers,  S.T.D.,  LL.D.,  there  has 
passed  away  one  of  the  most  noted  theologians  of  a  generation,  a  man 
great  in  scholarship,  broad  in  activities,  and  strong  and  loyal  in  his  devotion  to 
the  cause  of  the  Christian  religion.  Dr.  Chambers  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1819,  and  after  study  at  Rutgers  College,  New  Brunswick,  and  Princeton,  be- 
came pastor  of  the  Second  Reformed  Church  at  Somerville,  N.  J.,  and  later 
associate  pastor  of  the  Collegiate  Dutch  Reformed  Church  of  New  York  City. 
He  represented  that  church  and  his  denomination  in  many  benevolent  organiza- 
tions, local  and  national.  He  was  President  of  the  General  Synod  in  1863,  and 
repeatedly  filled,  at^  interim,  chairs  of  Biblical  Literature  or  Dogmatic  Theology 
in  New  Brunswick  Seminary,  and  also  at  Princeton,  Union,  Hartford,  Alle- 
gheny and  Lane.  For  many  years  he  was  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ver- 
sions of  the  American  Bible  Society  and  member  of  the  Publishing  Committee 
of  the  American  Tract  Society,  and  was  a  member  of  the  American  Bible  Re- 
vision Committee,  Old  Testament  Company.  With  the  late  Dr.  SchafT  and 
Principal  McCosh  he  was  active  in  the  organization  of  the  Alliance  of  Reformed 
Churches  holding  the  Presbyterian  System.  For  several  years  he  was  Chairman 
of  the  Western  Section  of  the  Executive  Commission,  and  in  1892  was  chosen 
to  succeed  Prof.  W.  G.  Blaikie  as  President  of  the  Commission.  In  all  that  re- 
lated to  the  advancement  of  his  own  denomination  and  to  the  cause  of  religion 
at  large  he  was  profoundly  interested,  and  spared  neither  time,  means  nor  ef- 
fort to  make  his  services  effective.  For  several  years  he  was  President  of  the 
Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  As  writer  and  preacher,  as  well  as  in  numberless 
executive  capacities,  his  zeal  and  energy  were  displayed.  He  was  a  copious 
contributor  to  the  publications  of  his  own  denomination,  and  was  for  a  time  as- 
sociate editor  of  "  The  Presbyterian  and  Reformed  Review."  In  1853  Columbia 
College  conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  S.T.D.,  and  Rutgers,  in  1885,  be- 
stowed upon  him  the  degree  of  LL.D.     .     .     . 

In  matters  of  doctrine  Dr.  Chambers  was  strictly  conservative,  and  defended 
his  theological  opinions  with  a  vigor  and  tenacity  that  usually  won  its  way  in 
controversy.  A  careful  and  thorough  student,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  men 
in  the  American  pulpit,  he  was  a  pillar  of  strength  in  support  of  the  orthodox 
interpretation  of  Scripture  and  a  stalwart  and  uncompromising  champion  of 
what  he  believed  to  be  the  truth.  His  ability  as  a  scholar,  writer  and  thinker, 
his  sterling  character  and  his  earnestness  and  vigor  in  all  he  undertook  have 
been  widely  recognized,  and  his  death  is  a  loss  that  will  be  keenly  felt  by  the 
church  to  which,  in  his  long  lifetime,  he  was  so  warmly  attached. 

68 


appeiiDir 


a  Cribute 

FROM  A  LIFE- LONG  ATTENDANT  AT  THE  MIDDLE  DUTCH  CHURCH 

<^N  all  that  has  been  written  concerning  the  late  Dr.  Chambers  no  allusion 
-J'  has  been  made  to  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held  by  those  in  humble 
circumstances  with  whom  he  was  brought  into  contact. 

During  the  last  twenty-five  years  of  his  pastorate  in  New  York,  Dr.  Cham- 
bers, by  reason  of  changes  in  the  resident  population  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
church  which  was  his  particular  charge,  has  had  more  or  less  to  do  with  the 
poor,  and  some  of  these  were  greatly  attached  to  him. 

At  his  funeral  a  goodly  proportion  of  such  were  present.  One  of  the  most 
affecting  incidents  of  that  occasion  was  the  sight  of  a  young  working  girl  in 
tears  who  had  recently  been  received  into  the  church,  and  who  had  joined  the 
throng  which  was  pressing  forward  to  look  for  the  last  time  on  the  features  of 
pastor  and  friend. 

I  have  before  me  a  letter  of  another  such— a  young  woman  who  is  one  of 
his  "  spiritual  children."  She  is  now  living  in  a  Hudson  River  town,  whither 
she  was  sent  some  time  since  on  account  of  illness.     Stie  writes  : 

"While  looking  over  '  The  Christian  Intelligencer'  paper,  that  a  friend  loaned  me, 
what  should  I  see  but  our  dear  Dr.  Chambers'  photograph  and  an  interesting  account  of 
his  work  and  death.  I  have  not  forgotten  Dr.  Chambers,  as  when  I  went  to  our  church  on 
Lafayette  Place,  I  remember  often  attending  church  and  hearing  him  preach  his  interesting 
sermons,  some  of  which  got  me  to  understand  the  Lord's  Word  more  and  more,  which  got 
me  then  to  become  a  Christian  and  jom  my  dear  church.  I  remember  also  when  I  had 
that  awful  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever,  how  his  words  of  prayer  that  I  might  be  restored 
to  good  health  were  answered." 

An  occasion  which  I  recall  with  sacred  joy  is,  on  a  beautiful  Sunday  after- 
noon one  spring,  when  it  was  my  privilege  to  accompany  Dr.  Chambers  to  the 
top  story  of  a  tenement  house,  where  with  great  tenderness  he  administered  the 
holy  communion  to  a  dying  girl. 

At  a  recent  communion  service  in  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  there  sat  in  the 
congregation  a  German  man  with  somewhat  imperfect  knowledge  of  the  English 
language.  He  was  deeply  impressed  with  Dr.  Chambers'  simplicity  and  ten- 
derness, and  afterward  said  that  he  never  realized  how  much  the  communion 
meant,  and  that  it  seemed  to  bring  heaven  down  to  earth.  This  man  is  now  a 
candidate  for  admission  to  the  church. 

In  "  The  Christian  Intelligencer  "  of  February  12th  allusion  was  made  to  the 
fact  that  Dr.  Chambers  could  not  utter  the  passage,  "  Like  as  a  father  pitieth 
his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth  them  that  fear  him,"  without  a  tremor  in  his 

69 


0ppcnDij: 

voice.  This  recalls  an  occasion  a  few  years  ago  when  Dr.  Chambers  began  to 
quote  in  his  sermon  Mrs.  Luke's  well-known  hymn,  "  I  think  when  I  read  that 
sweet  story  of  old."  He  finished  the  first  verse  with  difficulty,  and  began  the 
second : 

"  I  wish  that  His  hands  had  been  placed  on  my  head, 
That  His  arm  had  been  thrown  around  me," 

but  here  his  feelings  were  overcome,  and  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  rest  of  the 
hymn  unsaid.     His  hearers  were  visibly  affected. 

Similar  instances  which  recall  this  side  of  Dr.  Chambers'  character  are 
numerous,  and  he  possessed  at  the  same  time  the  faculty  of  such  a  clear  pres- 
entation of  the  truth  that  uneducated  minds  were  interested,  and  made  able  to 
grasp  eternal  verities. 

I  mention  one  more  case,  which  is  that  of  a  young  man  who  sang  for  several 
years  in  the  choir.  He  was  of  Roman  Catholic  antecedents  and  affiliations. 
His  whole  attitude  and  expression  of  countenance  during  Dr.  Chambers'  ser- 
mons exhibited  the  most  intense  interest.  Before  he  left,  to  live  in  a  Western 
city,  he  was  heard  to  remark  :  "  This  is  the  truth  ;  it  cannot  be  disputed  ;  Dr. 
Chambers  has  converted  me  from  my  errors." 

Testimony  to  Dr.  Chambers'  scholarship  and  intellectual  force  is  abundant, 
and  rightly  so.  But  to  me,  these  tributes  of  the  poor  are  more  precious.  Let 
me,  then,  lay  them  tenderly  on  the  grave  of  our  good  pastor  and  friend,  whose 
service  here  is  ended,  and  may  all  who  knew  him  keep  these  memories  green. 
"  The  poor  always  ye  have  with  you,"  and  "  to  the  poor  the  Gospel  is 
preached."  "  Inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of  the  least  of  these  my 
brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto  me."  W.  L.  B. 


letter  of  tl^e  m\).  ^t.  jmcClellanD 

The  following  letter,  written  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  McClel- 
land to  the  father  of  Dr.  Chambers,  in  the  summer  of 
1834,  has  both  a  biographical  and  an  historical  interest  : 

New  Brunswick,  Aug.  15,  1834. 
Dear  Sir: 
JUAVING  started  on  my  summer  tour  before  the  Commencement,  I  was  not 
^  at  home  when  Talbot  left  this  place,  which  prevented  me  from  doing 
what  I  always  do  in  such  cases — I  mean  from  giving  a  report  of  his  general 
character  and  deportment  while  a  member  of  our  institution.  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  I  can  make  a  statement  in  his  favor  without  a  single  qualification  or 
drawback.  His  conduct  during  the  whole  College  Course  has  been  most  ex- 
emplary, his  scholarship  not  excelled  by  that  of  any  in  his  class,  and  none  have 
left  the  Institution  who  will  be  remembered  by  those  whose  opinion  is   worth 

70 


anything  with  more  respect  and  kindness.  He  purposes  to  study  Theology. 
Without  offering  in  the  least  degree  to  interfere  with  your  ulterior  projects  as  to 
the  place  and  manner  of  completing  his  education,  I  may  safely  recommend  our 
School  as  a  good  one  for  the  first  year.  The  Professor  of  Biblical  Literature 
has  many  gross  deficiencies  to  my  certain  knowledge.  But  he  has  one  great 
redeeming  excellence.  He  does  not  make  bows  to  the  young  men,  nor  does  he 
use  any  patent  engines.  They  who  come  must  expect  to  study,  or  the  place 
soon  becomes  very  uncomfortable.  The  consequence  is  more  accuracy  than  is 
found  in  many  of  our  Theological  institutions.  If  you  are  afraid  of  his  drinking 
in  ultra-Dutch  Orthodoxy  I  can  assure  you  that  there  is  no  danger.  I  could 
prove  this  by  more  arguments  than  one.  But  one  shall  be  sufficient,  and  it  is 
that  the  Professor  of  Didactic  and  Polemic  Theology  has  no  concern  with  the 
students  during  the  first  year. 

Give  my  best  respects  to  your  family  and  all  friends. 

In  great  haste, 

Yours  truly, 

A.  McClelland. 


Ci^e  ^tantiarti  of  €>rt]^ot)ojt:^  in  1838 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  to  Mr. 
Chambers  by  a  friend  in  New  Jersey  and  dated  April  2, 
1838,  is  the  authority  for  the  statement  made  on  page  14. 

"  ^iO  the  orthodox  Presbytery  thought  you  tainted  with  heresy  from  your 
''^  connection  with  Mr.  Duffield's  old  church  and  your  inability  to  adopt 
without  further  examination  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  and  the  doctrine  of 
limited  atonement !  We  have  no  scruple  amongst  us  about  licensing  a  candi- 
date who  is  unable  to  adopt  Turrettin  and  Dick's  views  of  imputation,  provided 
he  holds  to  the  doctrine  of  original  sin  resulting  from  our  connection  with  Adam 
as  the  federal  head  of  the  race.  Come  over  to  us  and  you  will  find  some  men 
who  will  appreciate  your  attainments  in  sacred  literature  more  than  they  would 
Dr. 's  hyper-orthodoxy." 


71 


0ppent)tt: 


OF  THE   REV.   DR.   CHAMBERS* 

Separate  Morb0 

Gunn's  Life  of  Livingston.     A  new  Edition  with  new  Matter.     1856. 

The  Noon  Prayer-Meeting,  Fulton  Street,  N.  Y.  Its  Origin,  Character,  Prog- 
ress and  Results.  Board  of  Publication  of  Reformed  Church.  Also 
"  Princeton  Review,"  Vol.  XXXI.,  157  ;  1858. 

A  Translation  of  the  Minutes  of  Coetus  and  Conferentie  (Manuscript).     1859. 

Memoir  of  Life  and  Character  of  the  Hon.  Theodore  Frelinghuysen,  LL.D. 
Board  of  Publication  of  Reformed  Church.    1863. 

The  Psalter  a  Witness  to  the  Divine  Origin  of  the  Scriptures.  Vedder  Lec- 
tures for  1876.     (Randolph.  N.  Y.)   1876. 

Descriptive  Letter-press  of  the  Dore  Bible  Gallery.  (Cassell,  Patter  &  Galpin, 
London  and  New  York.)     1880. 

A  Companion  to  the  Revised  Old  Testament.  (Funk  &  Wagnalls,  New  York.) 
1885. 

Schmoller's  Exposition  of  Amos.  Translated  and  enlarged. — Exposition  of 
Zechariah.     Lange's  Minor  Prophets.     (Charles  Scribner's  Sons.)     1874. 

Meyer  on  I.  and  II.  Corinthians.  American  Edition,  edited  with  Preface  and 
Supplementary  Notes.     (Funk  &  Wagnalls.)     1884. 

Homilies  of  Chrysostom  on  Land  II.  Corinthians.  In  Post-Nicene  Fathers,  Vol. 
XII.  First  Series.  Revised  with  additional  Notes.  (The  Christian  Lit- 
erature Co.)    1889. 

S>ermon3,  SHy^u&ntH  anD  3^iscellaneou0  0rttclp0 

The  Importance  of  City  Missions.     Annual  Sermon  before  the  City  Missionary 

Society  of  R.  P.  D.  C,  of  N.  Y.,  May  19.  1850. 
The  Duty  Due  to   Deceased   Pastors.     Sermon  on  the  Death  of  Rev.  George 

Schenck,  Bedminster,  N.  J.,  July  9,  1852. 
The  Happiness  of  the  Pious.     Sermon  published  in  "  The  National  Preacher,'' 

Aug.,  1852. 
The  Gospel,  the  Only  True  Reformer.     Introduction  to  Brainerd's  Remarks  on 

the  Work  of  Grace  Among  the  Indians  at  Crosswicks,  N.  J.,  1856. 

*Dr.  Chambers'  writings  were  so  numerous  and  so  widely  scattered  that  it  is  im- 
possible to  give  a  complete  list  of  them.  The  most  important  ones  only  are  here 
enumerated. 

72 


Report  to  General  Synod  on  Separation  of  the  Dutch  Church  from  the  A.  B.  C. 

F.  M.    June,  1857. 
Memorial  of  Rev.  Dr.  Knox.     Jan.  17,  1858. 
Remarks  on  the  Death  of  Rev.  Dr.  Knox.     1858. 
Economy  a  Christian  Duty.     Sermon   published  in  "  The  National  Preacher." 

Feb.,  1865. 
A  Defence  of  the  Name  "  Dutch."    Published  in  "  The  Christian  Intelligencer," 

July  18,  1867  (also  pamphlet). 
Objections  to  Sunday  Schools.     N.  Y.  S.  S.  Institute,  1868. 
Memorial  of  the  North  Dutch  Church.     A  Centennial  Discourse.  May  25,  1869. 
George  Schenck.     Article  in  "  Sprague's  Annals,"  Vol.  IX.  (1869). 
True   Religious   Liberty,  or  the  Church   Independent  of   the   State.     Sermon 
preached  before  Classis  of  New  York,  Oct.  19,  1869.     "Christian  Intelli- 
gencer," Nov.  4,  1869. 
Letter  on  the  Madison  Avenue  Reformed  Church.     1870. 

Exercises  at  the  Dedication  of  the  Madison  Avenue  Reformed  Church.     (Pam- 
phlet.) 
The  Writings  of  Solomon.     "  The  Family  Treasury,"  1873. 
John  Knox,  the  Reformer.     McClintock  and  Strong's  Encyclopedia,  Vol    V 

1873. 
Recalling  the  Past.     Sermon  at  the  Twentieth  Anniversary  of  the  Church  at 

29th  St.  and  5th  Ave.,  Oct.,  1874. 
The  Guileless    Israelite.     Sermon  in  Commemoration  of  Rev.  Dr.  T.  Dewitt, 

Oct.,  1874. 
A  Jeu  d'Esprit.  X.  A.     Dec.  25, 1874. 
Greek  Examination  Papers.     Intercollegiate  Association  (with  W.  R.  Dimmock 

and  Charlton  T.  Lewis),  Dec.  i,  1875. 
The  Influence  of  the  Dutch  Church  in  Promoting  Soundness  of  Faith.     Centen- 
nial Discourses  of  the  Reformed  Church,  Jan.,  1876. 
John  Philip  Boehm,  Translation  of  the  Ordination  Papers  of.   "  Reformed  Quar- 
terly," Oct.,  1876. 
John  Romeyn  Brodhead.     "  Scribner's  Monthly,"  Feb  ,  1877. 
"  Is  Man  Depraved  ?  "     A  Discussion  with  O.  B.  Frothingham,  "  North  Amer- 
ican Review,"  May,  1878. 
A  New  Version  of  the  Heidelberg  Catechism.     With  Rev.  Drs.  Hartranft,  Camp- 
bell and  Duryea,  1878. 
The  Bible  an  English  Classic.     From   "  Anglo-American  Bible  Revision  "  by 

members  of  the  Revision  Committee  (for  private  circulation),  1879. 
The  Review  of  a  Generation.     A  Discourse  on  the  Thirtieth  Anniversary  of  the 

Settlement  in  New  York  of  Rev.  T.  W.  Chambers,  Dec.  7,  1879. 
The  Truly  Good  Man.     A  Memorial  of  Rev.  M.  S.  Hutton,  S.T.D.,  April  25, 

1880. 
The  Bible  for  Learners  in  "  Evening  Post  "  Essays.  New  York,  1880. 
Theory  of  Prof.  Kuenen.     Pres.  Rev.,  April,  1880. 

73 


The  Unwritten  Law  of  God.     Pres.  and  Ref.  Rev.  (Editorial  Note),  Jan.,  1895. 

Divorce  in  the  New  Testament.     Ref.  Quart.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1895. 

Private  Interpretation,     Ref.  Quart.  Rev.,  April,  1895. 

The  Messianic  Idea  in  the  Prophets.     Pres.  and  Ref.  Rev.,  April,  1895. 

Biographical  Sketches  of  Ministers  of  the  Collegiate  Church  from  1699  to  1825. 

Year  Book,  1882- 1895. 
An  Introduction  to  the  New  Testament  for  a  new  Teacher's  Bible,  1896. 

^ome  ijiftospapcr  Sixtides 

Reminiscences  of  Dr.  McClelland.     Fourteen  Articles,  Christ.   Intell.   (the  last 

dated  Dec.  12,  1872.) 
Expositions  of  the   Sabbath-School    Lessons.      Christ.  Intell.,  Jan.-Dec,  1873. 

"S.  S.  Times,"  July-Dec,  1880;  July-Dec,  1881. 
Palestine  and  the  East.      Twenty-eight   Articles.      Christ.    Intell.,    Feb.    19, 

1874-Nov.,  1875. 
Articles  on  Revision.     Will  Revision  Succeed  ? — "S.  S.  Times." 

Shall  There  be  Revision? — "Independent,"  June,  1881. 

A  Critical  Glance  at  the  Completed  Work. — "  N.  Y.  Times,"  May  21.  1885. 

The  Major  Prophets  in  the  Revision. — "  S.  S.  Times,"  May  23,  1885. 
Sunday-School  Reminiscences,  Dec,  1882. 
Clay's  Defeat  in  1844,     "  Unionist  Gazette,"  Dec,  1884. 
Use  of  the  Fathers.     Christ.  Intell.,  Feb.  16  ;  Apr.  20,  1887. 
Fifty  Years  ago.     Anniversary  of   Settlement  in  Somerville.     "  Unionist  Ga- 
zette,"  Oct.  14  and  21,  1889. 
Errancies   of   Scripture.     Fourteen   Articles.     Christ.  Intell.,  July  29-Sept.  19, 

1891. 
Christ's  Single  Exception  to  the  Mosaic  Law.     "  Independent,"  Oct.  29,  1891. 

In  addition  to  the  foregoing  he  edited  "  Centennial  Discourses  of  the  Re- 
formed Church  in  America  "  (N.  Y.  Board  of  Publication,  R.  C.  A,,  1877);  was 
associate  editor  of  the  "  Concise  Dictionary  of  Religious  Knowledge  "  (N.  Y. 
Christian  Lit.  Co.,  1891),  and  wrote  all  the  biblical  and  theological  articles  ; 
wrote  a  large  number  of  book  reviews  for  the  "  Presbyterian  and  Reformed 
Review,"  "The  Christian  Intelligencer"  and  "The  Observer,"  and  was  an 
anonymous  contributor  to  both  these  newspapers  for  more  than  forty  years. 


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